


Broken Wings

by DawnDoe



Series: Let's keep the skies clear together! [1]
Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Angst, Angst and Feels, Angsty Angela, Damsels in Distress, Developing Relationship, Drama, Drama & Romance, F/F, Fluff, Lesbian Character, Lesbian Character of Color, Lesbian Sex, Light Angst, Nanobots, Overwatch Family, Plot, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Sex, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-07
Updated: 2018-07-11
Packaged: 2018-11-10 13:21:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 52,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11127774
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnDoe/pseuds/DawnDoe
Summary: After the fall of Overwatch, Dr. Angela Ziegler alias Mercy had some trouble staying afloat.With the disbandment of Overwatch her family was disbanded too, leaving her alone.The recall brings old feelings, troubles and enemies with them, she isn't prepared to face alone.





	1. Falling out of the sky

**Author's Note:**

> DISCLAIMER: I’ll do my best, not to stray too far away from what is canon but I won’t follow it as closely as you might be used to from other fanfictions.  
> Furthermore English is not my native language. If you find any bigger mistakes I would be glad to correct them but please have mercy on my writing style.
> 
> ABOUT: This will be Pharmercy. Lots and lots of it. Maybe some other stuff thrown in but mainly Pharmercy and some time a little NSFW. I am a little drama queen. If you dislike drama and or damsel in distress, please don’t complain about it further on. I warned you.  
> Enjoy <3

Her steps sounded hollow on the cold stone floor. The white light of old neon lamps drew distorted figures on the walls of the old asylum, flickering and inconsistent.  
She didn’t know, what exactly she was doing here. Weather it was the memories, she had of this place or the troubled mind, she needed to be here tonight.  
She turned a corner, only accompanied by the slight rustling her coat made and stopped abruptly, staring into light blue eyes, foggy from the year-old dust, covering the broken mirror that was hanging from the wall across the hallway.  
Its glass was cracked and long, silvery spider webs were hanging from its once expertly crafted frame.  
She wiped the glass clear, examining the face it revealed.  
Her blond hair was dishevelled and hadn’t seen a hairbrush in days. Her otherwise blue eyes were tired and had sunken deep into her skull due to lack of sleep.

Dr. Angela Zeigler was a pretty woman under normal circumstances, but the last days had kept her wide awake, unable to sleep or do as much as work on her projects.  
She knew if Jack or - God forbid - Ana had seen her in this state she would have gotten a big lecture right after Ana had put her involuntarily to sleep.  
In a weak attempt to tame her wild mess that called itself her hair she brushed some streaks out of her face, only to worsen it.  
She sighted lightly before turning left, to what was once the wing for the doctors’ offices. She had done many jobs before joining Overwatch and after the disbandment.  
The work in the asylum was short lived, since she was more for saving lives that were in acute danger than healing the mentally sick and injured.  
But it always had been a safe haven for her. The door to her old office was gone from its frame, long ago taken down by some vandals or just time itself. The ivy she once admired and enjoyed had started to climb through the broken window, covering the walls and the floor around the broken glass.   
Her table and shelves were pushed into one corner of the room, making it look even bigger, emptier and lonelier than it already was.   
Shards of glass cracked under her steps, the old lamps desperately trying to fulfil their purpose of lighting the room with slight flickering.   
Angela leaned against the old wooden table, staring at the moon outside. A cool breeze made her pull her cloak tighter around her, slightly shivering from the cold it brought with it.  
She shouldn’t have come here. It wouldn’t do her any good. She should have stayed home, trying to sleep or at least laying in her bed, resting her head. But instead she decided to walk around, in the middle of the night, visiting one of the most meaningless places on earth for her.  
Instead of wandering alone she could have called her friends. Or old comrades more likely. The disbandment of Overwatch hit everybody different, loosing Gabe wasn’t any help in keeping in touch.  
She wondered, what Jack was doing nowadays. Probably saving some lives or giving some band of thieves living hell. She couldn’t imagine him staying out of trouble. Lena was probably some kind of freedom fighter. She remembered having read something about her helping taking down some assassin or something. So, she seemed happy. She was sure, Lena answered the recall request from Winston the second the little light lit up on her transmitter.  
Her lips curled into a little smile, imagining Winston, sitting in some weird room with all his loved technical equipment in between some highly difficult project and probably more peanut butter than he could forgive himself for eating, waiting for more lights to lit up.  
Her eyes followed the shadow of a bird across the sky.  
She wondered what not so little Fareeha was up to now. Maybe she had received the Overwatch recall too and could finally realize her dream of joining them and following in her mother’s footsteps.  
The smile on Anas face must have been the biggest in the world, as she realized that her little girl could finally join Overwatch. Either that or she had the biggest fight with her daughter, Overwatch being too dangerous and disbanded for a reason and so on and so on.   
it made her smile, thinking of them both. She remembered having Overwatch dinners with all the relatives and friends of the members, Ana bringing Fareeha, Gérard bringing his wife, Lena bringing her girlfriend. Angela had forgotten most of the names of the family members and their friends but it was always fun. Sometimes a welcome distraction from her work sometimes an unwelcome hindering for one of her projects.   
She missed it, all of it. The projects, the missions, the laughter, screaming and fighting in the common rooms. She missed the discussions over the commlinks about what’s for dinner and Jack disrupting those, reminding them of the tactic for their current mission.  
So why exactly was she here, sitting on an old dusty table in the middle of the night, not answering the still blinking light, that was shimmering through the fabric of her coat.   
The device felt hot to the touch of her cold hands, trembling from lack of sleep, as she pulled it out of her pocket.  
Next to the blinking Overwatch light there were 5 unread messages. She had skimmed over them on her way here.   
Three were from Lena, all along the lines of when she would join them and what kept her so long, one from her current work, informing her, that she was on temporary leave for missing work a week and asking her, if she needed anything, one from an unknown number.  
She didn’t care much for any of those but felt a little bit sorry for Lena. Her first message was already so excited and the two following only lived up to the first one.  
A cold breeze picked up, making the shadows on the walls dance and sending Angela shivering on her way back home. 

The sun was already rising as she was making her way back to what she called home.  
The streets already began to fill with the morning traffic of people going to work.  
She dropped her keys twice, trying to fit them into the lock only to find, that she had forgotten to lock her door in the first place.  
Her apartment was a mess with a mixture of takeout food and unfinished projects. She was pretty sure she had owned a bed at one point but it was bound to be covered under loads of paperwork. Her coat was carelessly tossed aside and landed on the ground, followed be the soft thump of her transmitter she had forgotten to take out of her pocket.  
The way to her fridge was littered with papers, half-finished devices, nanobot technologies and empty coffee mugs. Angela wasn’t really in the mood for parkour so she just pushed everything out of her way, making a small path of something that would come the closest to clean floor as her apartment had seen in days.   
The fridge of course was empty.  
She tended to bury herself in work and completely neglect everything else when something was bothering her and hell was this recall thing bothering her.  
Disappointed but not surprised she closed the fridge door and turned to the only other room beside her kitchen that wasn’t bath or bedroom. 

Her living room was more of a workspace for her but it included a big and soft couch – the only thing not buried under work material. She opened the door only to slam it shut by the sight of a silhouette against the early sun rays shining through her window.  
Hastily her hands searched for her gun from the old days. She always had kept it on a small table but as everything else in this apartment it had vanished under mountains of work.  
“You know, it’s not nice to slam the door on your guest”, a voice sounded from her living room.  
She felt her heart racing, her mind working how she could get out of the apartment without the intruder noticing but somewhere… she knew that voice from somewhere.  
A knocking against the door she was leaning against interrupted her thoughts, followed by a careful push: “Didn’t you get my message? I though you would be more excited to see your favourite person ever.”  
There was only one female person she knew, would introduce herself like that “What… Fareeha?”  
“You know I can kick the door in but I would really prefer if you could just open it again?”   
“What are you doing here?” Angela asked, backing away from the door and opening it.  
In the doorway stood Fareeha, a good head taller than her, her black hair tied in a short ponytail to keep it out of her face.  
Her dark brown eyes skimmed her from head to toe: “You don’t look so good. Have you slept in the last days at all?”   
Angela nodded lightly, still struggling to process, what was happening.   
Fareeha looked worried: “Please don’t faint on the me. Not sure how good my catching skills are.” With that she grabbed Angelas arm and pulled her into the living room, sitting her down on the couch: “And you are still a terrible liar. Mom always said you were and you still are.”  
“What are you doing here?” Angela asked again, her voice rasp, swinging between happiness to see Fareeha again and a sudden, heavy sleepiness.  
“Picking you up”, she heard the answer and the rustle of the curtains closing, keeping the rising sun out: “Right now making sure you sleep.”  
“I don’t need any sleep. I’m fine”  
“Sure you are” She heard the light chuckle she adored so much before her eyes closed and she sunk into the velvet darkness of a deep sleep.

She woke from a siren going of in – what felt like – the front of her window and sat straight up. Her head was hurting and her sight a bit blurry so she sank right back into the pillows of her bed.   
Wait  
Slowly she pushed herself into an upright position. How did she get here and where did her paperwork go? The door opened and in came Fareeha: “I thought you’d sleep forever. I was beginning to worry.”   
Opening the curtains, she revealed an almost setting sun: “You slept nearly the whole day and from the look of it I think you needed it” she answered Angelas unspoken question.  
“You –“Angela searched for words: “put me here?”  
“Carried would be more precise. You were fast asleep the second you lay down.”  
Angela couldn’t help but blush a little. She remembered Fareeha from when Overwatch still was a well-known, well esteemed organisation. Showing herself so weak in front of anyone would have been unthinkable for her back then. She always wanted to be strong for others. A thing that probably came with being a doctor.  
“I bought some food. You should eat something and after that we should get going.”  
“Going where again?”  
Fareeha turned to her: “Back to Overwatch of course” she raised an eyebrow: “I am surprised you haven’t already returned.”  
Her blanket was suddenly very interesting as she mumbled something incoherent. She herself didn’t really know why she hadn’t reacted to the recall. She missed helping people on a grand scale and she missed her old friends but something… something wouldn’t just let her jump up, get her Valkyrie suit and just get back to it.   
Fareeha returned with a plate of eggs and toast and even a hot cup of coffee and put it down in front of her: “Eat.”  
Angela hadn’t even realized, that she had left the room, but obliged with a thankful whisper.  
The bed made a light creaking sound as Fareeha sat down on the edge, watching her eat her breakfast.  
Once she finished she took the plate and walked out of the room without saying a word.   
Having some time for herself and having clear thoughts that where not clouded by the desire for sleep, Angela first had the chance to rethink and evaluate the whole situation and sort through some questions she wanted to ask.  
A few minutes passed, without Fareeha returning to her room, so she decided it was time to make her look more presentable.   
A bundle of clean clothes appeared like magic in the back of her closet as was a clean towel.  
Her way to the shower was accompanied by constant wonder, how free and clean the floors of her apartment were.   
She could hear Fareeha do something in the kitchen but decided not to talk to her until she was sure, what exactly she had thought letting herself and her apartment go like that. Sure, she tended to burry herself in work but it had never been that bad and she still wasn’t sure why it had gotten so out of hand.  
The hot water of the shower didn’t just wash away the dirt but the thoughts and worries she had for the last week. All the what ifs seemed to flow away with the water, leaving her only with one worry left, that seemed to be the whole cause of this mess she became:   
What if they disbanded again?  
She leaned against the wall, letting herself sink to the floor, the water still pouring down on her, her head buried in her hands.  
She wanted this. She wanted so bad to be back with Overwatch. The only think holding her back was the fear of being disbanded again. Until that day, she thought a broken heart wasn’t something, someone could physical feel. But that day had proven her wrong. She had been in touch for some weeks with her friends but all of them slowly drifted away, everybody in his or her own direction with own goals and she was left behind only with the will to help people.   
She had no family to speak of that could help her get on her feet again so she did what she did best and worked. First in hospitals, later in areas where war or hunger raged. She was convinced she had dealt with it but this stupid recall had brought it all up again and thrown her back into that black pit, leaving her sleepless and worried.  
A loud knock disturbed her thoughts.  
“Are you alright in there? You didn’t faint and drown, did you?”  
She hadn’t realized that she started crying or how long she had sat there.   
“I’m alright – I’ll be out soon”  
She stumbled to her feet, getting a bit dizzy from the hot water. Quickly she dried herself and put on her cloths. Leaving her wet hair dripping on her shoulders she opened the door, nearly bumping into a really worried looking Fareeha.  
“Your face is all flushed” she said, taking said face into her hands, inspecting it closely.   
“I was just too long under the hot water.”  
Fareeha didn’t seem satisfied but freed the way for her anyway.  
Angela almost didn’t recognize her living room. “I hope you don’t mind. I just couldn’t leave it like that” Fareeha had followed her into the room, pointing at three big stacks of paper: “I put your paperwork over there, mugs in the dishwasher and threw everything else away.”  
“Thanks” was all she could say. She knew Fareeha had been in the army for some time but she hadn’t known that she had a desire for so much order and discipline. She saw a grey leather jacket hanging next to her coat at the door. Had to be Fareehas.  
“Can we… talk?”   
“That’s the sentence everybody wants to hear” she chuckled: “but sure”  
She sat down on the couch, pointing next to her.  
Angela followed her invitations and sat down, legs pulled close to her body, arms around her knees. She saw Fareeha leaning back on the couch out of the corner of her eye, her eyes not leaving her.  
“So – I haven’t been on my – best” she started, her fingers playing with a loose thread on her jeans: “I’m sorry you had to see that”  
Fareeha just shrugged, her eyes still not leaving her.  
“I wanted to answer the recall. I really did. I just don’t want to go through the same motions again.” She stared at the wall, trying to find the right words. She wasn’t even entirely sure, why she told it Fareeha. Maybe because she was the only one she had seen in what felt like forever, maybe because she had cared for her as the first person. Sure, Lena or Jack or Winston would have replied to a message of hers. Torbjörn surely would have been down for a coffee or two. But none of them ever asked how she was doing until Fareeha.  
“Just… why are you here?”  
That seemed to be the only question, she wanted answered, that wasn’t concerned with her not answering the recall.  
Fareeha took a moment to answer, her eyes still not leaving Angelas face.  
“They send me to go see if you are alright.”  
“Who?”  
“Mainly Winston and Lena. Well, Lena wanted to come herself but I volunteered to go.”  
“Why?”  
“Because I wanted too and because I like flying in my suit.”  
“Suit?”   
“Parked in your garage. More work than anything but I love that thing.”  
Angela fell silent after that. Her behaviour hadn’t been the best. Fareeha and she hadn’t spoken in ages and yet here she was, sitting on her couch like nothing happened. Sure, she got way taller and gained muscles and that tattoo under her eye was new but it was the same person.  
After some time Fareeha started talking again: “Do you want to come back? If not, I can fly back and tell them, you – “  
“I want to come back”  
Silence befell the room once again. The thread of her jeans started to turn into a hole.  
“Want to tell me, what kept you from answering?”   
The hole turned into a danger to her jeans before she answered: “I was busy with work.”  
“Yeah, sure.”  
Fareehas sassy tone made her look up. She was still sitting there, a slight smile on her lips.  
“What?”  
“You are still the same. Don’t worry the others. Make sure everyone is alright. Whatever the cost.”  
Angela turned her gaze away from Fareeha and back to her wall, taking the thread on her jeans up once again.  
“You don’t need to tell me if you don’t want. Just do me the favour and don’t lie to me.”  
She felt Fareeha standing up, heard her steps closing the small distance between them. She looked up, Fareeha standing close in front of her, bending over her, her arms to the left and right of her.   
Angela buried herself deeper into the back of her couch, trying to avoid Fareehas gaze.  
“Don’t lie to me.” She repeated, leaving her nodding and blushing deeply as the only option.  
“Good. Now pack your things and let’s go.”   
Angela didn’t move, until Fareeha had left the room, her heart pounding like a wild drum in her chest. 

It didn’t take her long to pack her stuff together. She didn’t own that much and all the paperwork was only because she liked to chew on her pen when she was working. Most of the documents were saved on her hololog and the rest wasn’t that important. Her luggage consisted of a big bag with some cloths in it, her hololog and some books and her old Valkyrie suit in the dark blue of Overwatch.  
It felt good to finally have decided on going although there was this small, nagging voice in the back of her head, telling her, not to go.   
She was down the stairs and out of the house faster than she thought she would be. She hadn’t had the best memories of this place. In fact, no memories at all beside work related stuff. It wasn’t hard for her to leave it behind.   
Fareeha was waiting in front of the house, a giant bag on her back, probably containing that suit she was so proud of. The sun was already setting again, giving her dark skin a golden glow.   
“A second there I thought you would bail on me”, she smirked.  
“The apartment has no backdoors” was the dry reply.  
Fareeha laughed, a deep throaty laugh Angela remembered well.  
“Come on, our flight isn’t waiting for us.”  
“You already booked a flight?”   
“I planned on bringing you home with me.”  
Home – Home sounded good. Angela felt herself smile. A real and bright smile for the first time in years.


	2. The dream of flying

The flight was a short-lived experience. Angela was still exhausted from her work-and-worry marathon she had the last days and slept through most of it. Fareeha woke her as the plane started to descent. She found herself put into a taxi in the backseat while Fareeha gave the driver instructions were to go. The landscape rushed past her as the sun was beginning to sink once more, turning the sky in a reddish, golden carpet.   
The taxi stopped in front of a cliffside, leaving them in what appeared to be the middle of nowhere.  
“Are we in Gibraltar?” Angela asked, not having paid any attention to anything, gliding in and out of sleep the whole trip.  
“Good eye doctor.” Fareeha teased, moving around the rocks, to what Angela knew, was the entrance to their old Gibraltar base.  
“Don’t call me that. I don’t like my friends calling me that.”  
“Are we that?”  
Angela looked up, a slight shimmer of sorrow in her eyes but Fareeha laughed: “I’m just teasing. You should stop expecting us to dissolve into thin air.”  
“Us?”  
They reached the backside of the rocks, the old gate opening in front of them.  
“Counting the old members, you are one of the last one to come. Except for Reinhard and Jesse.”  
She couldn’t ask more questions because a storm of blue lightning and arms was wrapped around her, squealing in joy. “I knew you would come! I told them you would come! Haven’t I told you she would come?!” Lena Oxton took a step back and examined the person in front of her: “Have you gotten smaller luv? Or have I gotten taller? What’cha think?” she asked, standing next to Angela, facing Fareeha: “Have I finally outgrown her?”  
“You don’t grow at that age anymore, Lena”, Angela whispered as she pulled her into a deep hug.  
“It’s really good to see you.”  
“You too! Come on. They’ve all been waiting and dinner is already served.”  
And gone she was.  
“Has she gotten livelier since last time?” Angela asked, picking her back and suit up, she dropped in the storm that was Lena.  
“Nah. She is just excited. The old league is almost together again.”  
“What are Reinhard and Jesse up to?”  
“Reinhard is finishing up some business somewhere in Germany but he should be back soon and Jesse said he’d come back as soon as he felt like it.”   
Angela couldn’t help but grin: “Sounds like them.”  
“You know your way around here, so let me take your bag” Fareeha said and grabbed Angelas luggage without waiting for much of an answer.  
“They are waiting for you. You go ahead.”  
And with that she was gone through a door and out of her sights.  
Angela shifted her weight from one foot to another. She was looking forward to seeing them again. She had been excited for the last hours but right now she just wanted to walk straight out of that gate again.  
They would want an explanation of her, why she took so long. One she couldn’t give.  
A cold breeze from the sea helped her sort her thoughts quickly and she went into the building. The hallways where a mixture of old debris and the attempt to make them feel a bit like the old days. A bit like home.   
The noise and laughter could be heard from what felt like a mile away, accompanied by the smell of something freshly cooked.  
She turned the corner and stood at the doorway to the too big hall for the few people it hosted. But those few people made enough noise and had enough tables occupied to make the room appear as full as in the old days.   
The dreaded silence at her entry didn’t follow her expectations. An uproar of laughter, chairs scratching across the floor and many footsteps came in a cloud of noise up to her and seconds later she was surrounded by her old friends, hugged, pulled to the table, sat down and included in every conversation they had the second she walked in.  
A few minutes later, Fareeha joined and the party got even louder, Jack and Ana telling old stories, Torbjörn telling everybody who was willing to listen about his new technical achievements, Lena and Fareeha trying to outdrink each other and Angela in the middle of it all, smiling so bright her cheeks started hurting.  
The evening was long, turning into night and early morning hours before everybody was on their way to bed. It was surprising, how well Lena and Fareeha managed to walk straight and how badly Jack and Torbjörn tried to.  
Ana had excused herself hours ago, which was the only right choice as Angela realized, lying in her bed, staring at the turning ceiling.   
It didn’t take long until her drunken mind drifted into the darkness of a deep sleep.

The lights were dim but enough to watch the show on the stage. Angela had had a thing for variety theatre since she could think. She especially loved the mainly acrobatic shows. The way the dancers and artists moved just astonished her. This night the program apparently revolved all around lip-syncing, only with way more sexy clothes and more glitter than the original artist probably ever would have worn. She admired the dancers moving in their high heels and bodices.   
She herself wasn’t much of a dancer. She had fun with it but was far away from being good. Probably more cute and adorable than sexy she had to admit.   
Her finger traced the rim of her cocktail glass, making the slightest humming sound.  
“Are you planning on drinking that or rather stare the dancers the cloths off.”  
Startled, Angela sat straight up her eyes searching for the interruption. Fareeha stood in front of her, her dark skin shimmering in the dim golden lights. She wore a black long dress with a forbidden deep neckline and a necklace with a single stone dangling between her breasts.   
Suddenly the dancers didn’t seem all too sexy or important.   
Fareeha sat down, grinning at Angela still staring at her.   
Angela couldn’t pinpoint when Fareeha stopped being the child that was Anas daughter and started being the woman sitting in front of her.   
Probably around the same time she herself grew up – after all they were only five years apart.  
“You can’t stare my cloths of either”, Fareeha grinned.  
She could feel the heat rushing to her cheeks, colouring them bright red. The dim lights in here would hopefully cover it up for her as she quickly averted her gaze, inspecting her cocktail closely.  
Her hand started playing with the rim of the glass again, making that humming sound again.   
Suddenly her hand was cupped by long, slender fingers, pulling the glass away from her, entwining with her own. Dark eyes were looking at her, a hand caressing her check, carefully raising her chin to meet Fareehas eyes. The dark sparkle in them was mesmerizing as she leaned over the table, stopping only inches from Angelas face: “If you don’t stop me now, I’ll continue until your dress is on the floor of my bedroom.”  
Again, she felt the heat flush her cheeks, unable to react to such a bold comment she just sat there, blinking what felt like a little too often – Fareeha didn’t expect a comment anyway, pushing a golden streak of hair out of her face, she leaned in, her lips meeting Angelas, pulling her in into a sweet kiss.  
Angela froze a second, before closing her eyes and leaning in to Fareehas gentle touch.  
Her hands wandered up to Fareehas shoulders, along her neck until they ended up in her hair, brushing through it, her lips opening slightly allowing Fareeha to let her tongue slip in.  
Their kiss lasted only seconds before they pulled apart, leaving Angela breathless and Fareeha smirking.   
“Maybe we should switch places, before we continue this…” Fareeha whispered seductively into her ear, pulling her up from her chair and out of the room, up some stairs and out into the cold air of the night.   
Fareehas apartment was just a few blocks away in an old building with high ceilings.  
The door slammed close as they entered Fareehas living room, dominated by a large table. Angela hadn’t enough time to inspect the room before Fareeha turned her around, hands on her waist, pulling her close and into a breath-taking kiss.  
Fareehas hand entangled in her hair, pulling her close to her, not leaving any room between them.  
She felt her tongue tracing her lips hungrily. Opening them she allowed Fareeha to explore her mouth, playing with her tongue, giving her everything she wanted.   
Her hands wandered from Fareehas hair down to her shoulders, pushing the straps of her dress out of the way. Following her example, Fareehas hand slowly slipped under her dress while she kept her close with the other one. Her fingers brushing over her hot skin, finding the rim of her string, pulling it down her legs, carelessly tossing it on the ground.   
Angelas breath became heavy and hot as Fareeha directed her attention to her breasts, pulling the fabric, covering them, away, slowly leaving a trail of kisses down her neck to the soft skin of her nipples.   
A wave of heat coursed through her body, drawing a lustful moan from her lips.  
“I knew you’d like this”, Fareeha whispered, slipping her hand under her dress again, her fingers exploring the wet heat between her legs.  
“Don’t- ahhh~” Angela tried to push her away but was interrupted by a finger entering her, followed by a second one. She felt her knees grow week, only being held up by Fareehas strong hands.  
She felt something pushing against her back. She hadn’t realized they had moved across the room towards the table. Fareeha lifted her up, placing her on the table, directing her attention again to the gap between her legs.  
Spreading her legs, Angelas hands clenched down on Fareehas shoulders, pulling her closer in. Breathing heavy she felt her moving inside her. Shivers ran through her body, leaving her weak, only capable of moaning and holding on to the beautiful women in front of her.  
Her fingers twisting and turning inside of Angela, Fareeha pushed her down, leaving her lying flat on the table.   
By now she was reduced to a moaning mess, her cleanly tied up hair hanging loosely out of her bun, her dress opened, sweat glistening on her skin.  
She felt Fareeha pulling out her Fingers only to be replaced by her lips, kissing and licking a trail up her tight, her hands grabbing her tights strongly, spreading her legs far apart until she reached her.   
Arching her back, Angela bit down on her lip, trying to keep her composure but failing miserably as Fareehas tongue explored her, entering her, licking her.   
Waves of pleasure coursed through her body, building up to a giant storm of moans, hands tightly clasped in Fareehas hair and sharp, hot breaths until~

Her eyes opened and she sat up in her bed, drenched in sweat, her heart pounding in her chest, her cheeks flushed. Her brain took a minute until she realized where she was and what she was doing here.  
A sharp knock on the door brought her back into reality: “Are you awake? We got a meetup in thirty minutes.” Jacks voice was muffled through the door.  
“I’m up- “she said, throwing her bedsheets aside, standing up.  
She could hear Jacks steps getting quieter until they were entirely gone. She sat back down on her bed, her face buried in her hands. It had been years since she had had a dream like that and it was the last thing she could use right now. How could she even face Fareeha without blushing after that? The possibility of this happening was too real to just be ignored.  
Back then, Fareeha had been in training, then the army then at some other business but never in Overwatch. Never close to her each day. Despite that, she was kind of afraid of Ana in a respectful kind of way but she was pretty sure if Ana knew what she felt for her daughter she wouldn’t hesitate to kill her on the spot.  
It took her another five minutes to calm her racing heartbeat and to get up again. Staggering to her feet she pulled some cloths out of her back and stumbled into the shower.  
The hot water running down her skin was a blessing and managed to calm her down entirely. By the time she got out of the shower her face was red and her fingers wrinkled. A quick look on her watch told her she was late. Quickly she pulled her wet hair up in a messy pony tail, slipped into her pants and wide sweater, and rushed out of the door. 

The meeting room looked exactly like she remembered it, besides being a bit more rundown and the once white walls turned a bit yellowish. The round table with the Overwatch symbol on it was cluttered with water bottles and plans of some faculty or something.  
At least she wasn’t the last. Torbjörn was still missing and Lena seemed to fall asleep on the table every five minutes so she didn’t really count as present.   
The big, kind gorilla that was Winston greeted her with a big smile, pulling her into a tight embrace: “I’m glad to see you.” He said in his deep voice.  
“I’m happy to be here again.”   
He looked good, as far as a Gorilla could look good but his hair seemed silky black and his eyes had a cheerful spark that reminded her of herself, when she was engulfed in a new project.  
He nodded and guided her to the table where Ana and Jack where in a discussion about a recent theft at some museum, Reinhard had reported in.   
He seemed to still be in Germany, dealing with it but had requested some backup.  
Fareeha sat on a chair, playing with some medal or coin, twirling it with her long fingers, following its movements concentrated.   
She caught Angelas gaze and smiled at her, standing up, coming around the table. Blushing, she looked down, cursing her one tracked mind, her dreams, her desires, those fingers and everything that came to her mind before Fareeha reached her: “So you survived last night’s drinking?”  
“More or less…” She answered, still trying to avoid Fareehas eyes.  
“Well you look better than Lena”, Fareeha chuckled. Was that concern she heard in her voice?  
Angela looked up and regretted it right away. Fareehas dark eyes were pinned at her face, examining it carefully. The dark bags under her eyes were too obvious and she didn’t have enough time to cover them with makeup.   
“Are you alright? You seem tired.”  
“I had a short night.” Angela mumbled, feeling her cheeks flushing red again. She hated being an open book but she couldn’t possibly explain anybody, especially not Fareeha, what exactly made her sleep so uneasy.  
Before Fareeha could ask more questions, Jack demanded their attention, waking Lena from her nap once again. He summarized what had happened in the last days, where they were needed, what was going to happen with the thing in Germany and who had which task.  
The theft Reinhard reported seemed to be Talon related. Angela couldn’t remember when she last heard that name after the whole Gerard Amelie story. It sent shivers down her spine thinking that they had been active all those years without bigger foes than local police officers.  
Apparently, Winston had previous encounters with some of their agents, which luckily ended with him being unscathed but it was unclear what they were after.   
It worried Angela, that they were still active and planning something, but right now all she could do was help bring Overwatch back together.  
After an hour of assigning tasks and keeping them posted Jack released them to their day.  
Angela got off easy. Jack didn’t want her in the field right away, since he knew, she spent the last years mainly as a doctor instead of fighting, so he had assigned her to renovate the medical bay, cleaning it, going through inventory and in general making it work again so they could use it as soon as possible.  
Winston had lived here in the last years, but he had been alone and mainly stayed in his research centre, not paying attention to the other rooms.   
Angela nearly ran out of the room, trying to avoid Fareeha in hope of not having to explain to her, why she looked so tired and dishevelled. 

As she always did, when something was on her mind, she dived into work. The medical wing wasn’t in as a bad shape as expected. A thick layer of dust lay upon everything but after three hours of cleaning it almost looked like the old days. One bag after another of expired medical equipment and medicine landed outside of the doors. She found miraculously clean but dusty, whole sheets in the back of the room. She knew where the washing machines where so she put a heap of sheets on a small cart and pushed it down the hallways. The change was noticeable. The lights seemed to have gotten cleaned and broken once were replaced, emitting a nice warm yellow light. The room with the machines was empty so Angela filled all machines that seemed to work with the sheets. After some searching she even could find some powder for them. Now she just needed to wait until they were finished. An old medical magazine she found cleaning up about the use of nanobots in cancer treatment kept her company as she sat down on a chair, waiting for the machines to finish.  
“Are you alone luv?” a voice asked, making her jump up, nearly falling off her chair.  
Lena giggled, standing in front of her with a basket full of curtains: “Sorry. Didn’t mean to scare ya.”  
Lena grinned, mischief in her eyes. One may say what they wanted about the accident that made Lena what she was today, but Angela knew, she herself had long since made her piece with it.  
“It’s alright” Angela stood up, straightening her sweater: “My fault I was lost in thought.”  
“Are you alright?” Lena asked, loading another washing machine with her curtains, her chronal accelerator weakly shining through her shirt, giving the curtains a creepy blue glow.  
“Do I really look that bad?” Angela brushed her hair out of her face, rubbing her eyes.  
“Nah, you look fine. It’s just- “ Lena interrupted herself, trying to get an especially stubborn curtain into the machine.  
“- It’s just that you seem to avoid Fareeha. Did you too have a fight?” She asked, slamming the door of the machine in a victorious movement, turning it on.  
Angela blushed at that. She had been convinced, that everybody was too busy to notice anything, especially Lena who was half asleep the whole meeting: “No, we are fine. I’m just really tired.”  
“Didn’t look like that, when you ran out of the room”, Lena remarked, leaning against the wall, eyes pinned at Angelas face. She had always been good at reading people, Angela remembered. “but if you don’t want to talk about it, it’s alright” she continued before Angela could reply: “Just make sure Fareeha knows that. She looked pretty puzzled as you rushed out on her.”  
“I didn’t – “Angela tried to explain but got interrupted by a wave of Lenas hand: “As I said luv, it’s your business. Gotta go!” and with that she was out of the room, leaving a confused and slightly guilty Angela behind.

The small cart rumpled and creaked on her way back to the medical bay, loaded with freshly washed sheets. Her mind was clouded with thoughts about her behaviour, Fareeha and steamy dreams she wished she never had. Her thoughts came to abrupt stop when she turned the corner and nearly run over Jack, who was kneeling in the frame of the door to the medical bay. The mechanic had to be fixed and he was next to Winston one of the most skilled people to do that.   
“Wow be careful. You’re not wanting to wash these again.” He said, standing up, putting his tools down: “Need some help with that?”   
She just nodded, pushing the car in the room. It was nice, having Jack around, just putting clean sheets on the beds. They would need to restock on sheets, medicine, medical equipment in general but it would do for everything that didn’t include major surgeries for now.  
They talked about the old days, what they did in the time after Overwatchs disbandment and what they were planning on doing now. As Angela had expected, Jack had tried to help people, called himself Soldier 76 now – what she found kind of silly and cute but wouldn’t tell him ever – and had never completely laid his weapon down.   
It took the rest of the day, to make the bay functional. Angela cleaning, organizing and preparing everything to be able to receive an emergency, Jack repairing the door and checking everything electrical that could get relevant for any kind of medical treatment.   
They still would have to put a lot of work into it but the rooms were ready for a worst case for now.  
Jack excused himself, mumbling something about Reinhard arriving tomorrow and he wanted to finish up his room first and disappeared into the direction of their rooms.   
Angela decided, that she really should eat something, despite not being all too hungry. The worst thing about doctors was, that they could take care of others while terribly neglecting their own health. Angela was Queen at organising everything except her own live and forgetting to eat on a regular basis. One could assume she lived of medical journals and coffee.   
The kitchen was empty but the fridge was full. Despite her initial plan of having a healthy dinner she settled for an apple and a yoghurt, leaving the kitchen.  
The bags in her room where still unpacked and her bed unmade from this morning. She was excited to find some of her old books untouched on one of the shelves. Lena seemed to have been in here since her curtains were washed, fluttering in the light breeze that came through the open window.   
She looked out of the window. Her room, being on one of the upper floors, had a great view towards the ocean and their training place. She could see Ana talk with Fareeha, both laughing and seeming overall happy. Torbjörn joined them. His long blond beard being a bit too dark for it to be its normal colour. He probably was working on his machines again. It was good, to see all of them so happy and together once again.   
As if she had felt her gaze, Fareeha looked up to her, her eyes searching until they found Angela, standing at her window. A smile appearing on her face she waved at her.   
Angela felt her knees grow weak. When did Fareeha get so much power over her? It wasn’t that bad yesterday or the days before that. Weakly she waved back and stepped away from the window.   
Unsure, what to do know, she looked around her room once again. She’d need to pick up some more reading material and it would probably only be a matter of days before this place was littered in new mountains of research papers. But for now it was nice and clean.  
It was too early to go to bed so Angela took one of her old books and started reading. 

The sun just started setting, bathing everything in a red, orange glow.  
A knock on the door made Angela look up from the old pages, most of the things outdated but still interesting to read. Putting the book down, she stood up from her armchair, crossed the room and opened the door only to stare into Fareehas face.  
Angela took a step back: “You really need to keep some distance to doors. One day someone will just run you over or punch you in the face” she joked weakly, still averting her eyes, trying not to look at her directly.  
Fareeha went right past her without waiting for her to invite her in, turning to her as she reached the middle of the room: “Have I done anything wrong?” she asked, a hint of anger in her voice, her eyes piercing her.  
Angela flinched at the sharp tone her voice had. She shook her head, still not able to look Fareeha in the eyes. Lena had warned her about this just hours ago. She just hadn’t expected for it to be that obvious and she had forgotten Fareehas temper was short and she was one who had to resolve problems the second they appeared.  
“Why are you avoiding me then?”  
“I don’t avoid you. I am just busy.”  
“Yeah right. And this morning was normal. Not to mention the running out of the room afterwards.” Her voice shook with anger and annoyance.  
“I just was eager to get to work.” Even in her own ears it sounded like a weak excuse.   
She shifted her weight from one foot to the other and back again, still not wanting to look her directly in the eyes, afraid Fareeha could just read the truth in them.  
She wasn’t sure, what the truth even was. Nobody could deny, that Fareeha was an attractive women and Angela hadn’t had anybody in the last years… so…  
Her thoughts got interrupted by Fareeha taking two big steps towards her, standing close in front of her, her hand under her chin, forcing her to look up, meeting her eyes: “If I’ve done anything, I want to know. You are being weird since I brought you back.” Her eyes softened as they met Angelas, seeing something, she couldn’t quite describe, in them.  
Angela took a step back, her back to the wall, averting her eyes again, pulling on the hem of her sweater: “You didn’t do anything wrong- “she paused, struggling with what to say next or how to explain her behaviour. It was childish and unworthy of an esteemed doctor. She knew that. But it didn’t help her finding an answer to Fareehas questioning eyes.  
“Angela, if something is wrong, you can tell me. And if not me, then Jack or Lena” Again, she took a step forward, standing only inches away from her: “We are here for you. We are your family.”  
Angela felt how her body started trembling, Fareeha being that close to her didn’t help in the slightest, her scent surrounding her. She imagined the desert smelling like that after a rainstorm. Sweet, dusty and earthy with a hint of sun.   
A hot tear rolled down her cheek. She hadn’t noticed, that she had started crying but the tears were already flowing, reddening her cheeks, making her eyes glossy.  
She buried her face in her hands. She was confused. People should expect, one had sorted out his life with 37 but not Angela. The dream aside, meeting her old friends, seeing Overwatch being built once again, starting to worry what might happen if they got send on missions again – right now it was too much for her to handle or even grasp the entirety of it all.  
Strong arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight embrace, the sweet scent she was so font of surrounding her. She didn’t resist, the tears leaving hot salty streaks across her face, dropping to the floor and onto Fareehas Shirt, leaving dark marks.   
She felt her knees grow weak, leaving her helpless in Fareehas arms, wanting nothing more than to stay in them forever but at the same time just vanish into thin air and never having to think about anything anymore.   
She sank to the ground. Fareehas arms still wrapped around her, she got pulled on her lap, still crying, face buried in her hands. Fareeha started rocking her gently, whispering comforting words in her ear. At some point Fareeha stood up, lifting her up, carrying her over to the bed, sitting down there with her again, not releasing her out of her embrace. Angela closed her eyes, tears still running down her face but she wasn’t sobbing anymore.   
At some point her arms got wrapped around Fareeha, hands clasped in the fabric of her shirt.   
They stayed like this until Angela fell asleep.  
 


	3. The things we need to talk about

A cold gust of wind woke her. Angelas eyes were dry and burning, the grey light stinging in her eyes. It was a cold, clear light that filled the room. She shivered, the window being open the whole night made the temperature in the room freezing cold. She tried to sit up but was held down by something warm and heavy. She turned her head.  
Next to her, head laying on the pillow, Fareeha was sleeping, one arm wrapped around her, clothes still on. She must have stayed the night, after she fell asleep.  
It took her a second, in which she had to decide if it was clever to stay but the cold room and her still heavy heart and confused mind were stronger than her logic. She turned around, nuzzling herself tight against Fareeha, taking in her strong heavy scent. Listening to her slow, deep breaths. Her head rested on Fareehas chest listening to her steady heartbeat, every beat being louder than the one before. She closed her eyes and drifted into a light sleep, arms wrapped around Fareehas, trying to pull her as close as possible.

Her breathing betrayed Fareeha, as she woke, finding a sleeping Angel in her arms, cuddled tight against her.  
Her heart skipped a beat as she realized, what she was doing, her arms wrapped around her after she must have cried all night long.  
“Good morning” 

Fareeha breathed into her hair, Angela could hear her smile: “Are you feeling better?”  
Angela nodded, her head still heavy from the night of crying, but otherwise with a clearer mind than yesterday.  
Fareehas hand ruffled through her hair, playing with a blond streak: “Want to tell me, what’s on your mind?”  
Burying her face in the pillow she mumbled something.  
“Excuse me?” she heard Fareeha chuckle.  
Taking a deep breath, trying to calm her racing heart down, she turned to look at Fareeha: “I don’t – I don’t really know.”  
Raising an eyebrow Fareeha sat up: “Too much at once or you are not sure what it is yourself?”  
Angela felt like running away but at the same time she wanted to talk. She wanted to tell Fareeha everything – or most of it at least. It took her near to a minute and many deep breaths, until she was able to face Fareeha, who was sitting on the edge of her bed, giving her the time and space she needed.

“I can’t watch-“her voice trembled and she stopped, taking a deep breath, sitting up, taking the edge of her blanked, turning and twisting it in her hands: “ I can’t watch Overwatch fall apart again” she admitted, her voice soft, barely more than a whisper.  
“Why would you think that would happen?” Fareeha asked, watching opening and closing a button the sheet of the blanket.

“Because it happened when we were the strongest we ever were – “her voice succumbed to a whisper: “And we didn’t even need enemies to bring us to fall but we ripped us apart from the inside.”  
She saw Reyes and Jack before her inner eye, fighting, screaming threats at each other.  
“We aren’t more than a shadow of what we once were… “she stared across the room, eyes fogged with memories: “We don’t have anything that would keep us together. All it takes is a little push – “  
She stopped, her voice heavy with tears again. The possibility of it all happening again was all too real. She couldn’t lose her family a second time.

The noise of the explosion, the screaming of humans, the cracking sound of the building breaking apart still haunted her in her dreams. It had taken her years to forget all about it and being here made her afraid of it all coming back. It was already waiting at the edge of her mind, in the shadows.  
She didn’t notice Fareeha getting closer to her, until her arms wrapped around her, pulling her close into a warm embrace.  
“We won’t break apart.” She heard her whisper.  
Angela just let her head rest against Fareehas chest, shaking it slightly. “What makes you so sure about it?”  
“We are all here on our own accord.” Fareeha ruffled through her hair again, trying to calm her.  
“You know, back then it was the right thing to do, to join Overwatch. You wanted to help, you joined Overwatch. You were the best in your field, you joined Overwatch. There weren’t much options.”  
Angela looked up, watching Fareehas eyes locked on a point in the distance.  
“But everybody who is here. We tried to make our own way. Took the world on by our own. But the second the recall came our hearts were already here. It may have taken some of us longer – “she hugged Angela “but we knew that being here, is what we were meant to do.”  
Fareeha chuckled lightly, looking down, locking her eyes with Angela. The dark brown sparkling and burning with a fire, Angela hadn’t seen before: “Maybe I’m not the best to talk, being new to Overwatch after all, but I think you get my point.”  
Angela leaned against Fareeha. The sound of her voice calmed her down and deep down she knew Fareeha was right. It wouldn’t suffice to convince her troubled mind but at least for now her demons were silenced. 

A brown hand sneaked around her waist, pulling her tighter, locking fingers with her. Closing her eyes, she allowed herself this moment of peace. She knew she’d have to get up, dealing with the medical bay, dealing with her dream and just trying to outline what was next.  
A knock on the door disrupted her thoughts, letting her jump up from the bed and out of Fareehas arms. “Angela? We have a big shipment of medical supplies and if you don’t hurry Lena will have sorted them by colour and height.” Jack sounded through the door.  
“I’m coming!”  
“Oh and Reinhard will arrive today. I’m sure he will be thrilled to see you. And if you see Fareeha tell her Torbjörn is waiting for her because of her Raptorian suit. She’s not in her room.”  
“I will” She answered, blushing deeply, thankful, that Jack was polite enough not just to barge in like she was sure Lena would have done.  
Strong arms wrapped around her, hot breath stroking her cheek: “You’ll make it through the day?”  
Flustered she backed away, turning to face a smirking Fareeha, a teasing spark in her eyes.  
“I’m sure I will.”  
She paused a second: “Thank you.”  
Fareeha shrugged: “I made you cry its only normal that I stay and make up for it.”  
Angela was convinced, that staying through the night wasn’t natural, but she wouldn’t mind.  
Although she still had to sort out that dream and the feelings attached to it, she was glad Fareeha cared about her, although not to the extend she kind of wished she would.  
“Well I got to go. Things with my suit always have top priority.”  
Fareeha walked through the door, not without messing with Angelas hair once more: “You look good with messy hair. Maybe keep it that way.”  
And with that she was out of the door leaving a dishevelled Angela staring at the door long after she was gone.

Jack was right. Lena had organized everything after colour and height. She couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm as she sorted everything the way it should be.  
A big package at the bottom of the shipment caught her eye since it wasn’t labelled with the usual medical signs. Opening it she found some of the newest nanobots technology. Excited she took every little machine and plan in her hands, examined it and put it back only to be more excited about the next one.

An hour later she had set up a little laboratory in the room next to the medical bay. Old books about nanotechnology next to magazines and some plans she had with her were aligned along the walls. The huge table in the middle of the room was cleaned and swamped with the new playthings she got. A turning hologram of a nanobot she had been working on before she came here was placed on the side table at the left wall, next to two massive screens she borrowed from Winston’s room.  
The room was big enough to house every single piece of equipment she wanted, but still empty because everything she wanted combined was really much equipment.  
She placed her staff on a stand, removing its top, which housed a concentration of nanobots that were way outdated but still should do their job sufficiently. 

Since Overwatch had been disbanded, nanobots were in use in every bigger medical facility to repair tissue. In the last years, they had made big advancements and were not only able to repair one type of tissue but could fix larger organs, help in the regeneration of ripped tissue and were able to treat smaller cases of cancer.  
Angela had developed a type of nanobots, that were able to fix any kind of tissue and treat larger fractures but it took a great deal on the patient and was too dangerous to use on a regular basis. She only had used them twice on a mission to save peoples life, leaving them in a stable state but weak for weeks since the body fought the nanobots of as intruders.  
Her goal was to develop a nanobot, that could be used in every situation in battle to fix any injury and make the patient stable enough to be transported or even fix him up so he could go back into battle.  
For now, this was only a distant dream but she was a protégée in her field and with the equipment Overwatch had provided her in the past and would maybe provide her with again she could develop something that could fight certain death!

Her cheeks were flushed with excitement, her mind working in a frenzy. She could help families, that were in danger of losing a child or teams that were losing a valued team member. If it would advance enough maybe it could be used in other situations apart from the battlefield. Cancer patients, people with terminal illnesses in general, regenerating whole body parts making the need of prosthetics minimal. Maybe it could even fight birth defects.  
Her hands flew across her holopad, drawing up designs, writing whole articles on her ideas, sorting old ideas out, searching for new developments and breakthroughs in the field.  
She hadn’t had the possibilities to implement her ideas until now since the hospitals she had worked in hadn’t had the funds to invest in the technologies for it.  
Her enthusiasm carried her through the day and she was so lost in the work she loved, she didn’t notice how time ran past. 

The first time she looked up was when someone entered her improvised, laboratory. A wide smile appeared on her face as she recognized the person standing in the door, his hair white, his beard full and precisely shave.  
“It’s good to see you again.” He smiled at her.  
“Reinhard!”  
Angela nearly flew across the room, giving the tall man a big hug.  
Lifting her of the ground he swung her around like he used to in the old days.  
Putting her back on her feet he gave her an examining look: “You look good. Still small but good.”  
She smiled, shaking her head: “I probably won’t get any taller.”  
He nodded, sitting down on a chair that somehow survived Angelas whirlwind of paperwork and quickly assembled equipment: “Listen, I need to talk to you. Not- “he raised his hand, seeing Angelas worried look: “about me. I’m old but I will be fine for at least a few more years.” He laughed.  
“You have heard about the theft in Germany?”  
“Jack told us about it. But I know only a few details. Talon was involved, right?” she leaned against the edge of the table, arms crossed.  
“The place they targeted was the UNT.”  
Angela looked up, eyes small. The University of Nano Technology was famous for its assembly of old Nanotechnology and it was always up to date, constantly extending its collection for the newest available technology, dedicated to show the public, what was possible, giving them hope and inspiring young researcher to strive for new heights. Stealing something from there wasn’t just highly difficult, it being one of the best protected places in Germany, next to political important buildings and homes of politicians, but was of great concern. There were documents that were only available there, most of them not being for public access, but only for researches. Angela herself had spent some time in the archives of the university, studying the development of the newest technologies.  
“What did they take?”  
“That’s the weird part. They only took documents from around the time when Overwatch was disbanded plus minus two years.”  
Angela raised an eyebrow: “Those documents are worthless despite their historic aspect. The technology is far better than it was back then.”  
“That’s why I need to speak to you. Have you any idea, why they could have taken them?”  
Shaking her head Angela looked around: “If they wanted state of the art technology they would have taken the documents from the last three years. Maybe it’s a diversion from something they took? Any single pages missing or one nanobot out of a badge?”  
“The university is currently searching for anything missing but despite those documents nothing is missing.”  
“I need some time to look up, what exactly is missing. Maybe I can make a draft of what they were after but I wouldn’t count on it.”  
Angela sorted some papers on her desk, typing something in her holopad.  
A new model of a nanobot appeared on the turning hologram: “This would be the model that was mostly used back then. It can fix tissue but had some issues to define which one. At some times it didn’t do anything and only made the patient’s condition worse by forcing the body to remove them from its blood stream. It wasn’t reliable and had to be used in a high dosage to do anything. Today you would use about ten percent of the dosage that was used back then.”  
The model vanished, being replaced by a comparison. Angela studied the turning drafts.  
It boggled her mind why anybody would want the drafts and researches of such an unreliable nanobot.  
“We should contact the researchers that where on the top of it back then.”  
Angela turned to Reinhard: “Besides them maybe being able to help I’m worried they may be in danger from Talon.”  
Reinhard nodded: “As long as we don’t know their objective, we need to take every precaution we deem necessary. I’ll talk to Jack. We have some old connections that might help and I heard Anas daughter was hired by a security agency? She should be able to help too.”  
“Speaking of her” Angela cocked her head: “How is this thing with Ana going.”  
“I have no idea what you are talking about”, Reinhard replied, but the sparkling in his eyes gave Angela a pretty good idea that old attractions lived up once again.  
“I’ll better get to work. The sooner we find out what Talon is after, the better.” He stood up, leaving the room, turning one last time to Angela: “Take care of you.” And with that he was gone.

The light had turned to a dark lilac colour before Angela left her laboratory. The only thing keeping her from working the whole night was the absence of a coffee machine.  
Models of old nanobots were strewn across every surface she had, notes on their details, drafts on possible improvements, sorted after their abilities but nothing she could find would make sense for Talon – or for anybody at that – to steal technology that old. 

The rest must have gone to sleep, the kitchen lay empty, some used plates and the rest of a pizza lay on the counter. Angela refrained from cleaning the room up. They could do that themselves.  
The coffeemaker made a satisfying humming noise as it started making more coffee than a single person probably should drink in an entire week. The fridge held next to more pizza some apples and some toast. Neither really sufficient for a healthy meal but enough to quench her hunger for food.  
The sound of footsteps made her turn around, an apple sandwich in her hand.  
Fareeha, dressed in a tank top, dark jeans and leather boots came around the corner, an empty water bottle in her hand, her skin glistening with sweat: “Ah I hadn’t expected you to be still up.”  
She threw the bottle in the trash, taking another from a shelf and started chugging it.  
Angelas eyes were pinned on Fareehas drenched tank top, outlining her muscular figure, leaving very little room for imagination. Suddenly nanobots seemed of very little importance.  
“I got to admit” Fareeha said between two big gulps: “I love this place but this humidity isn’t very much to my liking.”  
Angela didn’t listen. A single water drop rolling down Fareehas chin, over her neck until it vanished between her breasts into the dark of her top had caught her attention and was claiming all of it.  
A dark hand waving in front of her eyes brought her back.  
“Hello? Is the doctor in?”  
“What?” her breath was a little too short to be normal.  
“I asked where you have been the whole day?”  
Fareeha leaned against the counter, the half empty bottle of water still in her hand.  
“I got some equipment and picked up my studies again.”  
“On nanobots? My mother uses your technology, did you know that?”  
“She did modifications on it.” Angela grunted.  
“It’s impressive, right?”  
“I don’t approve.” Angela stated, turned, ready to leave the room and get back to her work but once again she ignored Fareehas need to not have any possible open conflicts.  
“You don’t think you can just walk out of here without telling me why?” Fareeha grinned, leaning in the doorway, blocking the way out.  
It wasn’t a good topic. Angela hated, when people messed with her work and Ana took the top of the cake with modifying her nanobots to be harmful for people: “I can and I will. It has nothing to do with you and Ana being your mother isn’t helping you to convince me to tell you anything about this special topic.”  
“I got ways of convincing you” Fareeha said, locking her eyes with Angela.  
Images of hot kisses and strong hands on her skin flashed through Angelas mind before she got hold of herself once again: “You may-” She admitted, certain she had an entirely different idea about this than Fareeha: “but it’s still none of your business.”  
Fareehas eyes got small: “Angela, I know you aren’t having the best time. And it’s okay if you don’t want to talk to me about things, but you really need to work on your social skills” she scolded her.  
“What’s your problem? I don’t want to talk about it and that’s the end of it.”  
“I only thought it was a good topic for conversation”, Fareeha shrugged: “It being your field of studies and all I thought it’s in your interest to talk about it.”  
Angela felt a bit sorry for being so snappy about it, but it didn’t keep her from snarling at Fareeha: “It is none of your business. It’s none of your business what I am doing and it is none of your business why I disapprove of this and why not. I won’t talk about it and you are in my way.”  
Fareehas jar clenched: “Again I didn’t mean to- “  
Angela interrupted her:” I don’t care.”  
“Angela, is everything alright?” Carefully, Fareeha reached out for her only for Angela to slap her hand aside: “I’m fine, just leave me be.”  
Her voice shook with suppressed anger. Without knowing Fareeha had reminded her, that every death that came through Anas nanobots – her modified nanobots – was on her.  
Determined to push Fareeha out of the way she walked straight to the door, not expecting Fareeha to make way.  
“Fine” Fareeha whispered, her eyes ablaze with anger, making way: “but don’t expect me to- “  
Angela didn’t hear the rest of the sentence as she stormed off the hallway, her coffee forgotten and alone in the kitchen with a steaming Fareeha.

The loud bang of a book dropping to the floor woke her. She jumped up, pulling a heap of papers, pencils and notes with her, dropping them on the floor. Her laboratory was flooded with grey light from a sun hiding behind thick, rainy clouds.  
Stretching her arms, a slight headache pounding at the back of her head, Angela looked around the room. She had worked the rest of the night to get her mind off Fareeha and that stupid fight. She wasn’t even sure what they fought about or why she had reacted the way she did but in the light of the day she knew – she owed Fareeha an apology.

She inspected her reflection in a dark screen, opened her messy ponytail, or what was left of it and tried to straighten her blouse.  
She hadn’t had a clock in her room but the sun was already pretty high up and measured by the messiness of her hair and the time she had spent last night on solving a riddle she was not sure was able to be solved it had to be way past noon. Her aching back reminded her, that she probably should take a shower, find Fareeha and apologize. The way to her room seemed longer than normal. Each turning corner she expected to run into Fareeha but aside from a chatting Lena and Winston, commenting on her looking a bit off and suggesting a break from work, she didn’t see anyone.  
The shower she took was quick and aside from cleaning her it didn’t her any good. A scorching headache raged in her head and her hands were trembling from lack of sleep. Quickly she blow-dried her hair, put on a blouse and a fresh set of pants and was out the door again.

Fareehas room was empty, so was the big hangar and the kitchen. The first drops of rain already started to paint the ground dark as she returned to her laboratory to pick up her holocom. No lights were lit up signalling no messages. It hurt a little, realizing, that Fareeha hadn’t tried to contact her and talk about things but she couldn’t blame her.  
She rubbed her eyes, sitting down on her bed, feeling dizzy all of a sudden. The doctor in her told her, that she had to sleep and eat a proper meal but everything else urged her to find Fareeha before their fight last night escalated into something bigger.  
Her legs carried her to the mission room where she found Jack bent over the big Overwatch table, some plans spread over the entirety of it. He looked up as she entered the room: “So you have finally awakened from your slumbers?”  
“Don’t act like you haven’t worked through whole weeks” she smiled, seeing the amusement in his eyes. “So, what are you doing all plans and tactics?” she sat down on the table, her legs dangling off the edge of it.  
“We were asked for help in Germany so I send Lena, Reinhard and Fareeha to help.”  
Damn. That would explain why she couldn’t find Fareeha anywhere. But she needed to talk to her and soon: “How long will they be gone?”  
“Three days at least. Maybe more, depends on how the mission goes.”  
Angela felt dizzy again, her head deciding to blow up some fireworks.  
“Hey, are you alright?” Jack, came around the table, Angela holding her head in her hands, eyes closed, jaw clenched. “Just a headache, I’ll be alright.”  
“You don’t look like it. Only because Overwatch is back together you don’t need to fall back into old patterns right away.” She felt his hand on her shoulder. She looked up, her vision blurry.  
“You really should rest.”  
“It’s just a migraine, it will pass.”  
“I’ll bring you to your room. No discussion!” he raised his hand, silencing her.

The way back seemed to be plastered with too bright lights and too loud sounds. She was glad, Jack came with her, making sure she didn’t fall or stumble against walls.  
The second she lay in her bed and Jack was out of the room the silence surrounded her like a soft pillow, leaving her to her pounding head and her empty mind, waiting for it to pass.  
She had migraines before, the first came a month after Overwatch had been disbanded with the dreams of the building crumbling and the screams. Her education was broad enough to give her the idea of consulting a therapist but she never did in hope of it passing. And it did for some time – until Winston initiated the recall and the memories came back.  
Jack had closed the curtains before leaving, mindful of her being sensitive to light, so she was left in the dark, waiting for her head to calm down and her vision clearing up. At some point Jack came back, bringing her something to eat, sitting with her, waiting for her to eat up, although she multiple times explained, that she wasn’t hungry, and was gone the second she finished.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me through this chapter. I got some important stuff to take care of and it could take a little for the next chapter to appear but I'll do my best and promise it will be out before the end of the month !  
> Meanwhile I'll upload a little oneshot about what Fareeha is up to between chapter three and four. You can read it but it won't have anything plot relevant in it I won't explain in future chapters. It's just a little extension of whats going on.  
> I hope you enjoy it
> 
> Edit: I've uploaded the oneshot "I will protect the innocent (and my love) and made it part of the series.  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/11172540 (not sure if the link will work but here you go :))


	4. Right beside you

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've uploaded a oneshot "I will protect the innocent (and my love) and made it part of the series.  
> It plays between chapter three and four and if you are interested in what Fareeha is up to you are welcome to have a quick look.

The next days were a blur. Jack refused to keep her updated on the mission until she felt better but it only made her worry more, sending her in a whirl of headaches, feeling better, worrying and getting a worse headache than before. The migraine didn’t only keep her chained to her bed but made her vision blurry and her stomach refused any kind of food at all.   
It got that bad that Jack had a doctor come, looking after her, only to give her some painkillers and as soon as she was a bit better, getting in a discussion with her that she only needed some rest and was fine until another migraine attack pinned her down on the bed again.  
The up and down lasted for the rest of the day but for her it felt like years had passed. The morning of the next day she woke up with a clear vision for the first time and only a low pain in the front of her head.

The first thing she felt was a raging hunger for anything food related.  
Motivated to finally get up she swung her legs out of bed, standing up, only to sit back down, overwhelmed by dizziness and the gaping hole that was her stomach.  
As if a bell had rung the moment she woke up, Jack came through the door, carrying a bowl with some soup and a glass of milk.  
“You look better. Want something to eat?”  
“Yes!” she groaned, sitting up again.   
Leaning against the head of the bed, the bowl on her knees. Eyeing the glass of milk, then Jack, then the milk again she mumbled: “No coffee?” before she started shovelling the soup into her mouth, the food filling her empty stomach, filling her with warmth and enough strength to get the glass of milk from the nightstand herself.   
“Still would have preferred coffee” she mumbled, emptying the glass without putting it down once.  
“Maybe I can offer you the information then, seeing that you are better, Reinhardt and Fareeha have returned from their mission? Lena comes a little later but is fine too.”  
Angela nearly choked on her milk. She nearly had forgotten, that she still owed Fareeha an apology and with the migraine she hadn’t been able to at least send her a message.  
“That good a message?” Jack smiled at her and she couldn’t shake the feeling he knew something she didn’t or wanted him to know.  
“Take it slow for a few days. I know you and I don’t want to see you fainting in your laboratory on me.”  
“Says the guy who played dead for too long.” She mumbled in her milk, trying not to turn the colour of a ripe tomato.   
He didn’t seem to have heard her and left the room, still a knowing smile on his lips. Her eyes followed him until he left the room.

It took her near to an hour to regain her strength and the way to the bathroom exhausted her, convincing her it was the missing coffee that had her knees weak and neither the after match of the migraine nor the impending apology for Fareeha.   
The hot shower did her good, relaxing her muscles that had cramped up from the long bedrest. She never wanted to get sick and spend more than a few days chained to a bed in any way - it would mentally kill her. Getting out of the shower she wrapped herself in a towel, starting to blow dry her hair. The fog over the mirror made her face appear paler than it was as she inspected it. She had dark rings under her eyes from the lack of sleep but otherwise she didn’t look as bad as expected.   
She heard the door to her room open. Still wrapped in the towel she left her bathroom to find a breathless Fareeha standing in the middle of the room. 

As she heard the door open she turned around, a worried look on her face, eyes searching for Angela. The second she saw the golden-haired woman come through the bathroom door she made two big steps to her, swooping her up in her arms, taking in her scent. She was warm and still a little wet from the shower she must have taken minutes ago. Her hands ruffled through her hair, pulling her close, holding her in a tight embrace: “Thank god you’re alright.”

Angela was quite literally swooped of her feet as Fareeha embraced her. “Of course, I am? What – “she asked a little breathless from Fareehas passionate embrace.  
“Sorry” Fareeha sat her back on the ground, taking a step back: “I asked Jack where you were and he told me you had been sick since we left, unable to get out of bed.”  
A hint of annoyance about Jack lit up in the back of her mind: “I just had migraines I’m fine.”  
Fareehas worried look faded, replaced by relief: “I was really worried there for a second.”  
A shadow crossed her face, taking a deep breath walking towards the door: “I’ll see you the- “  
She stopped. Turning around.

Without thinking Angela had reached out and grabbed her hand, holding her towel up with the other, she stood there, looking a little lost without her lab coat she wore over everything.  
“I’m sorry.” She said, looking down, her heart pounding inside her chest.  
At least Fareeha didn’t just walk straight out of the door.  
“About what?” she heard her asking, not a hint of anger in her voice but a careful kind of – happiness?  
“I overreacted. It’s not a good topic… your mothers’ modifications I mean. But that doesn’t justify me screaming at you. I’m sorry” her eyes wandered up Fareehas legs, over her hand still held by her own until she met her eyes. They sparkled with honest happiness.

“Maybe I should have taken the hint, you not wanting to talk about it too?” Fareeha smiled, her fingers wrapping around Angelas. Angela nodded slightly, for the first time in what felt like forever not averting her eyes. A thought crossed Fareehas mind and she pulled Angela in a tight embrace again, burying her face in her golden hair, taking in the scent of soap and the slight notion of disinfectant Angela always carried around with her. She stood like this, heart pounding in her chest, hoping, she wasn’t to bold and Angela wouldn’t push her away.  
The feeling of Angelas arms wrapping around her made her heart flutter in excitement. She felt her head resting against her chest, her breathing slow and regular.

Angelas heart skipped a beat as she was pulled in, hesitant, to return the embrace at first but giving in to her heart desire. Fareeha smelled like rain and a long night, her leatherjackets zipper rough on her skin but right now she didn’t care. She just wanted to stay like this forever, not a worry in the world, only Fareehas arms around her.

Fareeha looked down on the Angel in her arms, burying her face in her chest. Her grip around her getting a bit tighter. She watched a lonely water drop run down her shoulder and over her arm until it dropped to the ground, leaving a little, sparkling diamond on the wooden floor.   
“Angela” she whispered. Angela raised her head, locking eyes with her, a single streak of hair falling into her face. Slowly brushing it away she cupped Angelas face with her hand. Caressing the soft skin under her fingers she leaned forward, lost in the deep blue of her eyes. She felt Angelas hands clenching on her back, as her lips touched hers. They tasted sweet and a little like chocolate. Her heart pounding heavy inside her chest she hoped, prayed that she hadn’t just made a huge mistake, but it felt so good and right.

It took her a few seconds until she realized what was happening. Her hands clinging tight to Fareeha she took a moment before she tiptoed, kissing Fareeha back, feeling her lips pressing against hers. She felt Fareehas hand wander in her hair, entangling in it, pulling her in for a deeper kiss. Opening her lips slightly she felt Fareehas tongue sliding inside her mouth, tasting her. She felt her towel becoming undone, dropping to the floor, neither of them minding, lost in the feeling of their kiss. Fareehas hands started wandering across her back, coming to rest on her slender waist. She enjoyed the soft, warm touch, promising safety.

It felt like a short eternity before they broke apart, both a little breathless.   
Angela was the first to speak: “If I ask you if you like me, I can take that as a yes?”  
“I don’t think I can be clearer without being a bit too bold.” Fareeha smiled at her, still holding her tight. The smile on Angelas face was the most beautiful thing Fareeha had ever seen. Her eyes lit up as if the sun was rising in them itself, giving them a warm glow and her lips parted just a little bit as if she was about to break into laughter. She couldn’t resist but trace them with her fingers, following their form, kissing them again, soft and sweet.

Angela felt her skin burning up under the touch of Fareehas hands, suddenly becoming very aware of her standing naked in front of her. Breaking apart from the kiss she tried covering herself with the discarded towel on the floor. Fareeha watched her as she wrapped herself in the soft fabric, a little smile on her lips: “I wouldn’t have minded you staying like that.”   
Flustered Angela gave her a look of amused anger: “On any other day maybe but I really need to get back to work.”   
She rushed into the bath, where her cloths lay prepared for her, quickly changing into them. Her heart fluttered like a little bird taking flight for the first time. It took her too long. Too long to get on her pants, too long to close her blouse, too long to get her hair up.  
Still trying to tie her hair up she got out of the bathroom, her eyes searching for Fareeha. She wanted to spend as much time with her as possible, now, that she was finally sure of her feelings for herself.  
Her heart sank as she didn’t see her right away but rose again as her eyes fell on Fareeha, leaned against the wall, looking out the window, arms crossed, a little smile still on her lips.

She turned her head as she heard Angela coming out of the bathroom, her smile getting broader. She was so happy, her body filled with a warm feeling, her eyes resting on Angela, still a little dishevelled.   
“So, what is your plan today?” she stepped forward, entwining her fingers with Angela, pulling her closer, taking in her scent once again.   
“I need to find out what Talon wants with old nanobots” distracted she started playing with the zipper of Fareehas jacket, pulling it a few inches up and down again.  
“Old nanobots? How old?” Fareeha watched her delicate fingers playing with her jacket.  
“At least five years. They stole them from the university. Reinhardt told me.”

Leaning against Fareeha she closed her eyes, the little paint left over from the migraine pounding at the front of her head: “I need to find out what they want with them and we need to make sure, that the experts for them are save. If it wasn’t a distraction, they may be in danger from Talon.”   
“Weren’t you one of them?” Fareehas eyes got dark with concern: “If so, you yourself are in danger.”  
“I’m not in danger, don’t worry!” Angela tried to give her a reassuring smile but failed, the thought having crossed her mind already.   
Closing her arms around her, Fareeha rested her chin on Angelas shoulder: “Promise me to be careful.”  
“I won’t leave this base any time soon Fareeha, don’t worry.”   
Angela hugged her tight, trying to tell her something she herself didn’t believe in.

Fareeha walked with her to her laboratory. They hadn’t spoken about the danger Angela might be in. She refused to talk about it, still not being sure if she was right in her assumptions, and Fareeha didn’t want to fight about it. She knew, Angela would be save here and she knew that she wouldn’t accept any security measures on her behalf based on an assumption.   
They stopped at the door, Angela smiling at Fareeha: “Want to – “she stopped, the words being foreign to her mouth, never having used them until now: “want to have dinner with me tonight?”  
Fareehas eyes lightened up, being darkened by heavy thoughts and worry: “I’ll pick you up after I cleaned myself up and gave my mission report.” She leaned forward, placing a light kiss on Angelas forehead: “Don’t overwork yourself.” And with that she was gone.

Angela felt like she was floating on a big pink cloud of happiness the whole day. She flew from one end of her laboratory to the other, building old nanobots to see how they worked together with newer models, writing articles about it, making notes, doing drafts of new combinations of old and new models. Although nothing she did had any real useful answer to her question she at least crossed a dozen of possibilities off her list. The world seemed like everything was bound to turn out fine. She could do the research she loved, Overwatch was back together and the woman she loved returned her feelings and was picking her up for dinner. She made a little jump, sitting back behind her desk, watching the diagrams of her last test turning on her screen, its blue lines illuminating, showing every little detail and part with notes what they were good for. 

A flicker caught Angelas attention, zooming in on a detail, she had examined a thousand times already. Her hands searched for a blank piece of paper and a pencil as she hastily started writing.   
The old nanobots had done their job at a rate of five percent. The rest had copied and rebuild already dead tissue, until it was flooded out of the system.   
That itself wasn’t a problem as the nanobots shut themselves down after their power source ran out of energy. But a malfunction which source was never found prevented the nanobots from shutting down even if their power source ran out. In that case they just used whatever the body could give them, still trying to repair dead tissue.  
If Talon was able to build a nanobot based on those old designs, that didn’t copy dead tissue but replaced it with new one and didn’t stop until the nanobots were removed from the system, they could build soldiers, that wouldn’t die.  
She couldn’t imagine the effects on the human psyche a nanobot like this would have.   
She remembered the flawed model leaving patients in pain until they removed the nanobots from their body. If Talon did it, it could leave the subjects in a constant state of pain or unable to feel pain, neither of those options being a good one. If they made a mistake it could be nanobot induced cancer. She felt the blood leaving her cheeks, leaving her white as snow.   
A technology like this wouldn’t only kill thousands of test subjects before it was finished but would throw the world on the edge of a war, they couldn’t win against an army of undead soldiers.

Leaning back in her chair she let the realization wash over her, trying to comprehend the entirety of what a nanobot like this could do. A little spark of hope in the corner of her mind tried to tell her, that this still may be a diversion from something else but her logical part worked against that.  
She got up, hastily pulling her notes together. She needed to show this to Reinhardt and Jack, Ana might have an opinion on this too. Rushing out of her laboratory she ran into a freshly showered Fareeha, stumbling back, nearly leaving her to fall to the ground.

Fareeha had spent enough time with her training to have fast reflexes, catching Angela before she hit the ground, leaving them in a dramatic half carrying position: “I knew you had fallen for me but I didn’t take it to be this literal.” She said, giving Angela a cheesy smile. 

Angela was too involved with her findings to appreciate Fareehas reflexes or her cheesiness. Fareeha pulled her on her feet again, giving her a testing look: “Are you alright? You look a bit pale.”  
“I discovered what Talon might me after. We are in big trouble” she answered, trying to catch her breath, her heart pounding in her chest as it wanted to break free and flee.   
“I need to get these findings to Jack and Reinhardt and soon.”  
“I saw them eating dinner, come with me” Fareeha grabbed her hand without any further ado or questions and pulled her through the hallways.

Their steps sounded hollow and quick on the stone floor as they entered the dining hall, seeing Reinhardt and Jack sitting at a table, locking up as they heard them approach.   
Angela could swear she saw a short knowing, approving spark in Jacks eyes but she was too busy to worry about things like that. She nearly ran towards the table, Fareeha on her heels, slamming her notes on the table: “Talon wants to build undead soldiers.”  
Reinhardt made a choking noise, putting his glass down: “They want what?”  
“They want to build a nanobot that runs endlessly and repairs every tissue, no matter if dead or alive” her explanation was breathless, underlined by a hardly suppressed shaking of her voice: “If they succeed we could face existences that don’t feel pain and don’t die even if we pierce their heart.”

She had to sit down, the weight of her finding leaving her legs weak, lightheaded. She felt Fareehas hand on her shoulder, trying to give her strength and support as Jack stood up: “We need to have a meeting, now!” he stormed out of the room, holocom on his ear, his steps vanishing in the distance, closely followed by Reinhardt. Angelas mind was racing. Besides the enormous stress a development like this would put the subjects mind under, she wasn’t entirely sure of the medical effects on the human body.  
Talon hadn’t had enough time to perfect such a thing yet, not with the leading researchers still being safe but she didn’t know how fast they could get first results. They knew little about Talon right now and hadn’t the slightest idea what their resources may be. She was so lost in thought she didn’t notice Fareeha coming around her chair, kneeling in front of her, looking up to her.

“Are you alright?” Fareeha asked her again. Angela looked up, her eyes dark, lips trembling lightly, hard to notice at all. “Sorry. I really looked forward for dinner.”  
Fareeha brushed the strand of golden hair, that had escaped her pony tail out of her face: “Don’t worry we will have time for that.” Angela nodded, mind still racing, already busy with a possible cure for such vile crimes against the human body. She would need to construct a possible nanobot first to counteract its effects. The thought of it alone sending shivers down her spine. She wouldn’t be able to do such a thing, even if it meant saving lives she just couldn’t risk the dangers that would come along with the development of a nanobot leaving the patient undead.  
“Angela? Angela. Angela!” she reemerged from her thoughts, her eyes focusing on Fareeha, still kneeling in front of her, a deeply worried look on her face. “Yes?” she was a bit confused as to what Fareeha wanted from her.

Fareeha took Angelas hands in her own, they were cold and shaking. “You need to drink and eat something” she said, standing up, going to the kitchen, grabbing whatever she could find, pouring a cup of coffee Angela loved so much. She returned to a still pale Angela, her eyes locked in the distance, lips moving as if she was talking to someone. She put the plate down in front of her and shoved the hot cup of coffee into her still cold hands: “Please drink something.”  
Absentmindedly Angela raised the cup to her lips, slowly drinking the coffee, colour returning to her cheeks, calming her shaking hands.   
“Thank you” she whispered, looking at Fareeha, a light smile appearing on her face.   
“Can I help you with anything?” Fareeha asked, caressing her cheek.  
Angela leaned in to the touch, the warmth of Fareehas hand giving her the strength and support she needed most now: “We need to stop Talon before they can achieve anything with those plans. Protect the people from them. We can’t let them build those nanobots.”  
“You are right. But you won’t be of any help if you neglect your health so please eat something” Fareeha pushed the plate with food towards Angela: “Not the dinner we both had in mind but its food and evening so it technically counts as dinner.” 

Angela could help but chuckle. She needed this, the gentle, cheerful and sometimes fierce spirit that was Fareeha. It helped her to not lose touch to the ground, especially now that they would need her expertise. She fished a sandwich of the plate and started eating it. The taste of tomatoes and basil filling her mouth. She hadn’t realized how hungry she was until now and the sandwich was gone in no time.   
Taking another one her eyes met Fareeha, an amused sparkle in her eyes.  
“What?” she asked between two bites.  
“It’s so fascinating how fast you can switch from the expert doctor and researcher to someone who can’t care for themselves forgetting to eat.”  
Angela blushed, paying more attention to her sandwich than was worth it: “I’m just getting lost in my work easily. I can take care of myself pretty well.”

“Sure” Fareeha grinned, watching her eating the sandwich, a shadow clouding her eyes, making them appear near to black. If Angela was right, and she was sure she was, she was in greater danger than she had initially thought and Fareeha wasn’t able to protect her by her own.   
she was being send to missions, protecting others, doing her job but at the same time it would mean she would have to leave Angela here alone.   
Even if they were send on the same mission, she couldn’t protect Angela without endangering the mission. She didn’t want to lose any more team members after Khalil, not by her fault.   
Angela was too busy with her food to notice Fareehas dark gaze upon her.

It took Angela only a matter of minutes until she had emptied her plate, a satisfied sight escaping her as she emptied her coffee cup. Her high feelings vanishing as she realized the impending meeting where she would need to present her findings, most likely starting a war against Talon, one she wasn’t sure they were able to win. Looking for support she looked at Fareeha, still watching her.  
“We should go meet up with the others.” Fareeha nodded, standing up from the chair, pulling Angela up with her and into a deep kiss.   
Angelas hands clenched in surprise before she gave in to the kiss, her hands resting on Fareehas chest, enjoying the heat of her hands on her cheeks and the soft feeling of their lips meeting.   
She wanted to keep this feeling forever, not interrupted by any impending threats but being in Overwatch there was no way around it and she knew that. 

The conference room was full. Besides the known faces some new ones had joined their cause. Angela was surprised to see Jesse McCree along those faces. She hadn’t expected to see him anytime soon. Fighting herself through the crowd she greeted him, exchanging some quick words until she turned to the table were Jack had started introducing the people to the looming threat that was Talon.  
Angela presented her findings, explaining what it would mean should they ever be able to develop such a nanobot and that they had to retrieve the plans at all cost.   
After the room had settled again, her explanations being accompanied by an uproar of voices, Jack started to explain their strategy, on top of it all, protecting researches that were responsible for the nanobot types in question and locating the Talon base where they most likely kept the plans.  
Angela wasn’t surprised receiving the task to stay at the base, doing further research about the nanobots plus taking care of the medical bay. A few doctors and nurses had joined their cause and they were prepared to take up research and work under Angelas guidance. She was excited to have people who shared the same interests and went to the same training she did but she couldn’t shake the feeling that they would need their expertise as medical doctors way too soon.

The meeting was disbanded, everybody having a task assigned, Angela stepped out into the warm air of the night, the moon high on the cloudless sky, sending its silvery light across the buildings, painting them in a mysterious shimmer. She stepped to the rim of their base, looking down the cliff their base was next to, watching the waves brand against the rocks. She heard the people leaving, going to their quarters or going home, their chatter slowly getting quite until it died down in the distance.   
She took a deep breath, the air tasting salty from the sea.  
Hands wrapped around her waist, pulling her close: “Are you tired?” Fareeha whispered in her ear, pulling her close to her, chin resting on her shoulder.  
“Yes” nestling up against Fareeha, listening to her deep, controlled breaths: “but I doubt I can sleep. Too many things happened today.” She closed her eyes, enjoying the moment, Fareehas arms around her, her hair tickling her shoulder, her lips pressed against the soft skin of her neck.  
“What about a little midnight swim?” Fareeha continued to leave a trail of kisses down her neck, opening the first button of her blouse, pulling the fabric aside to reach her shoulder.  
“I’m sure it would relax you enough to find some rest.”  
“I can’t argue with you like this- “Angela turned around, facing Fareeha, reaching for her, pulling her in for a soft kiss.

The way to a secluded part of the cliff wasn’t long but rocky enough to have Angela stumble around the rocks strewn across the uneven part. As they reached the white sand beach she was breathing heavily, laughing at Fareehas snarky remarks about her being able to fly gracefully across the sky but looking like a penguin on the ground. The moon sent his pale light over the water, making it shine like liquid silver. Angela walked towards the water, removing her shoes, feeling the sand under her feet, stepping into the water, letting the waves play around her toes. 

Fareeha watched Angela walk down the beach, the moonlight giving her something magical, colouring her hair with a shimmer that made it look like she got a halo. Fareeha discarded her jacket, leaving it on a rock, followed by her shirt, shoes and pants. Her feet carrying her across the soft sand until she reached Angela, taking her into an embrace, kissing her neck. 

Angela froze as she felt Fareeha against her back, her lips on her neck, softly sucking leaving light red marks on her smooth skin, her hands slowly removing the lab coat she still wore. She felt her heart beat fasten as Fareeha continued opening her blouse, removing it, exposing her skin to the silver light of the moon, her hands brushing her hot skin gently, every touch sending shivers through her body. Hands traveling down, she removed her pants as well, leaving Angela only in her underwear, trembling in anticipation, heat walling up in her chest, biting her lower lip. She didn’t dare to turn around, in fear of interrupting Fareehas gentle touch. “Why don’t we take a little swim?” Fareeha whispered into her ear, taking her hand, pulling her into the waves until the water reached her chest.   
Moving through the water, Angela felt her muscles relax from the day, the warm sea surrounding her, small waves swapping against her chest and shoulders, leaving little droplets of water on her pale skin. She felt Fareehas eyes on her and turned around. There she was, her hair black like the night itself, eyes shimmering with a mysterious glow, her skin shining from the water pearling down from it. 

It took her only two strokes to be at the same height as Angela, cupping her face with her hand, the other on her waist, pulling her in to a deep kiss, letting her tongue slide into her mouth as soon as Angela parted her lips for her, deepening their kiss. She felt Angelas hands wandering up her arms, coming to rest on her shoulder and in her hair, holding on tight to her. Sliding her hand down Angelas waist, over her hips she pulled up her leg, placing it on her hip, their bodies pushed against each other. 

Taking the hint Angela wrapped her legs around her, closing the few inches between them, wet hot bodies pressed against each other, every movement of Fareeha leaving Angela gasping. Fareehas skin was hot to her touch, her tongue demanding, exploring her mouth, tasting her. A gasp escaped Angela as Fareeha broke apart from her, only to kiss a line down her neck and her shoulders, biting playfully into the smooth skin above her collarbone, her throat escaping a slight moan. Heat flushed her cheeks as Fareehas hands came to rest on her tights, holding her up and tight to her.

Her lips brushing across Angelas skin, Fareeha kissed and licked her way down to Angelas breasts, still covered by the wet, white lace that was her bra. Pulling the strap with her teeth off her shoulder she revealed two perfect round breasts, shimmering in the pale moonlight. “Wait- “Angela stopped her with a breathless whisper, fingers on her lips, her blue eyes looking up at her. “Too fast?” Fareeha asked, careful not to pressure her into anything.  
“That’s not it. I just – “Angela looked down, blushing: “I can’t keep myself up.” She whispered, her eyes looking up through her long lashes, glossy with desire.

“If that’s all- “Fareeha picked her up with a canine smile, walking through the waves, Angelas trembling legs wrapped around her hips, her arms around her shoulders, face buried in her hair. She stopped at a rock half emerged in the waves, placing Angela on it, smiling at her, licking her lips: “Better?” she asked whispering, directing her attention to Angelas breasts, her hands caressing them, lips on her sensitive body, kissing and sucking the hot, wet skin, every touch sending shivers through her loves body. 

Moaning Angela wrapped her legs tighter around Fareeha, hands entangled in her thick hair, pulling her as close to her as possible. The rough surface of the rock scrapping against her back didn’t bother her, her skin burned up to Fareehas touch. It took all concentration she could muster, opening Fareehas bra, revealing her dark breast to the night air.  
Her fingers traced a bronze scar, running across Fareehas collarbone down to her breast, caressing the long-healed skin. Her concentration was taken away by Fareehas lips, wandering over her breast, kissing her nipples, her hands gliding down her wet body, spreading her legs apart, pulling down her panties. 

Fareeha continued to kiss a trail down Angelas body, over her stomach down her tights. Angelas hands tugging on her hair, pulling on it trying to find hold as she kissed the gap between her legs. Her hot breath sending shivers through Angelas body, leaving her moaning and gasping under her touch as she easily entered her hot body, her tongue pushing against her wet walls, exploring her insides, tasting her. 

Arching her back involuntarily Angela gasped, feeling Fareehas tongue inside her. Clenching around her she felt bolts of pleasure shooting through her abdomen, lust fogging her mind, her mouth open, moaning and gasping, helpless to her touch. 

A wave of heat and pleasure rushed through Fareehas body, Angela tasting so much better than in her imagination, her voice being so much sweeter than she could ever have expected. Slowly she pushed a finger inside her, feeling Angelas wet walls clench around her, adding a second, twirling them inside, feeling her heat and desire.  
Leaning forward, her hand caressing Angelas breast, she sealed her moans with a sloppy kiss, not expecting Angela to return her kiss with so much force. She felt her tongue entering her mouth, exploring it, playing with her tongue, arousing her even more.

Angelas arms wrapped around Fareehas neck, pulling her in, not leaving her any room to escape from their kiss, her tongue tasting Fareeha, demanding more, her fingers digging into Fareehas skin marked by countless battles. Gasping she spread her legs as she felt Fareeha add a third finger, slowly pushing it in, filling her with a sweet pleasure that turned into hot waves of sheer lust coursing through her body, moaning into the kiss. She felt the heat build up in her belly, as Fareeha pushed deep inside her, moving her fingers in and out, circling inside her, bringing her to make sounds she didn’t now she was capable of. 

“O Gott- “She felt herself clenching around Fareeha, a wave of pleasure shaking her body, arching her back, releasing the pressure with a load moan, her hands tightening her grip, her fingernails digging deep into Fareehas back, as she came. Holding on tight to her, she felt her pulling out, wrapping her arms around her, waiting, until her breath had calmed.

Fareeha pulled the heavy breathing Angel in front of her into a tight embrace, waiting for her own heartbeat to calm down, spreading soft kisses over her shoulder, neck and face. A feeling of complete happiness filled her body, giving her a warm and fuzzy feeling she never thought she would receive. The faint rushing of the waves against the rocks and sand was the only sound next to their heavy breathing. She heard Angela whisper something in between breaths into her hair, too soft for Fareeha to understand her over the sound of her blood still rushing through her veins. 

Angela slid down the rock, back into the warm water, her legs giving way under her weight, only held up by Fareehas strong arms. Her legs were still weak and trembling from the treatment Fareeha gave her but her heart was filled with an overflowing light, her eyes sparkling like the stars above them. Unsure if Fareeha had understood her or didn’t want to respond, she wrapped her arms around her neck, trying to get close to her, whispering once more: “I love you.”  
She saw Fareehas eyes widen, disbelieve being replaced by a broad smile, lifting her up and into her arms: “I love you too.” She whispered, kissing her softly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for staying with me through this chapter. I hope I made up for the last chapter being a bit of a downer.  
> Quick question if you guys have read the Fareeha oneshot: are you interested in this kind of side story thing? If so I'll upload some more for the next chapters?


	5. Mercy on call

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This chapter is getting a bit darker and bloodier than usual. If you can't handle that please continue with care.

The sun woke Angela. The headache from the migraine completely gone, a warmth overflowing her heart with joy she turned around. Fareeha was looking at her, smiling at her, making her feel all warm and fuzzy: “Good morning”  
It wasn’t a dream. It had really happened. Throwing her arms around Fareeha, she cuddled tight against her, the feeling of her arms wrapping around her making her feel save.  
“I need to get up” Fareeha whispered: “I’m assigned to go back to Germany with Reinhardt, protecting two of the researches who developed the nanobots.”  
“No~” Angela mumbled, her face buried against Fareehas chest: “You need to stay here. It’s important.”  
“You are not entirely awake” she heard Fareeha grin, hugging her tight before carefully removing her arms from her body, getting up. She still wore her top from yesterday, pants and jacket thrown over a chair she started to dress herself: “I have to leave in an hour and I don’t know when I will be back.”  
Angela turned around, watching Fareeha get dressed, her eyes tracing every scar on Fareehas back, mumbling something incoherent.  
“Get your coffee and come say good bye”, leaning over her, kissing her forehead Fareeha gave her a last smile and left the room.

Angela spent too much time in front of her closet that morning, torn between being comfy and leaving a nice sight for Fareeha before she left for her mission. Protection and Bodyguard missions could take months and although Angela would be free to visit her as often as she wanted, she didn’t know how much her work would consume her and how obvious she could risk being. She was sure, Fareeha hadn’t told anybody, especially not her mother and Angela wasn’t prepared to be alone with said mother with Fareeha being miles away. She decided on a dress, comfortable but still showing off some leg and just a little too short for casual work. With a bit of luck her choice of clothing would go unnoticed by everybody but Fareeha.  
Her feet took her to the hangar just in time to see Fareeha putting on her suit next to Reinhardt who was fastening some screws on his armour.  
Jack and Ana were standing next to them, apparently giving them the last information to their mission, handing Fareeha a file. 

Looking up her eyes met Angelas, the blond woman coming towards them. Smirking Fareeha took in the wardrobe Angela had chosen for today, regretting that she had already put on her suit and they had to go soon and hadn’t enough time for anything. Angela seemed to have noticed her approving look and smiled at her, joining their little round.

“The two of you will use the jet, the two Professors you will protect live somewhat secluded and are hard to reach. I expect you to stay at least two weeks until we can organize a broader security in cooperation with Germany.” Jack concluded his explanations: “Good luck, I expect a mission report every 24 hours.”  
He turned around, walking with Ana and Reinhardt to the jet, leaving Fareeha and Angela alone.

“Two weeks is a long time”, Angela said. She had been prepared for something like this but it still hurt - after she finally felt true happiness - to say good bye to her love.  
“You got your work. I know you, days will pass in no time as soon as you get yourself involved in it” Fareeha smiled, brushing the golden strand of hair out of Angelas face that always sneaked itself out of her ponytail: “And it’s not like I don’t own a holocom.”  
Smiling Angela cupped Fareehas hand that was still caressing her face: “I still kind of wish I could come with you.” “Getting clingy already” Fareeha teased, smiling fondly at her.  
“I did go through the trouble of dressing nice for you” Angela grumbled.  
“And it is deeply appreciated” Fareeha whispered, pulling her in between to large crates that stood in the hall, pinning her against the rough wood, her hands wandering under her dress up her tight, their lips meeting in a passionate kiss. 

Angelas heartbeat quickened at Fareehas stormy kiss, feeling her armoured hand wander up her leg, caressing her soft skin. The feel of the cold metal covering Fareehas hands made her shiver in excitement, leaving her mind room for new fantasies. 

The beeping of Fareehas commlink implemented in her armour interrupted them.  
“Pharah we need to get going.” Reinhardts voice sounded over the link.  
“Sorry” Fareeha mumbled, giving her an apologetic smile: “We’ll pick up where we left of next time I see you.”  
Angela was too busy catching her breath to give her an appropriate respond, watching Fareeha pulling away, putting on her helmed, turning from the warm, passionate Fareeha to the logical, strategic Pharah.  
“See you in two weeks”, kissing her forehead, giving her a last smile she turned and took off into the air, landing on the door to the jet, giving her mother a hug and Angela a last wave before she entered and was gone.

Fareeha had been right. The minute Angela had assembled her staff, giving orders, starting research on new medicaments, nanobots and treatments for any kind of illness time flew by.  
A new expert had joined their ranks, opening a new technical wing of research apart from medicine. 

Satya Vaswani aka Symmetra was a cheerful woman with a tick for order and symmetry, her own prosthetic arm being a breakthrough on medical and architectural grounds. Being a doctor Angela was amazed at what Satya had succeeded in developing, her arm being a complete replacement of her limb with the ability to feel and as finely tuned as a human hand would have been. 

The two of them quickly hitting it off, both being fascinated by the others knowledge in their field of technology. The only flaw in their developing friendship was Angela being inclined to chaos and Satyas need for cleanliness and order, the two of them having a friendly fight on a daily basis, the other Doctors, nurses and architects working with them quickly learning to just get out of their way when they were at it. 

Angela spend more and more time in the technical laboratories in the adjoined wing to the medical bay, working with Satya on a cure for the possible plans of Talon, Satyas knowledge of technology making it unnecessary to develop the nanobot itself and directly working on a cure. They still had to run some simulations though, Angela did them on her own, shut off from the world in what became her private laboratory, making sure no file or note left her room. She knew what danger those researches held and it left her some sleepless nights. 

At least Fareeha and her still were in the same time zone. Even if they were miles apart, they called each other, talking for hours. They both had rushed into their relationship, their feelings being more a feeling of heart than the logic of mind or the knowledge of the others personality. It was in those hours, when Angela laid restless, backed up on her arms, the hologram of Fareeha in front of her, smiling at her, talking to her, having discussions with her about everything in the world, that Angela truly came to love her for everything she was.  
Were it her need to tease her for every little thing, especially the time she spent with Satya.  
The caring slightly worried look her eyes got when Angela had a headache from work or dark rings under her eyes and the annoyance and impatient when Angela refused to take any advice from her, well meant as it may be.  
The fiery anger, when she saw Angela neglecting to look after herself or the soft gold that filled her eyes when she told her she loved her. Angela loved her for all of it, being especially font of the fire that filled her eyes, when Fareeha started to speak about her suit, and the soft tone in her voice when she talked about her team at helix, made Angelas heart overflow with love for this perfect human being.  
She could infuriate Angela within seconds too, being too overprotective about her, sometimes jealousy coming through the teasing about Satya showing an impulsive, controlling side of her that soon softened after a fight, apologizing for what she said but never what she felt.  
But Angela soon learned to life with that, being sure that Fareeha didn’t see a perfect person in her either but maybe perfect enough to be loved. 

Their calls got less and less after three weeks, the cooperation and correspondence with Germany taking longer than anybody expected, chaining Pharah to her mission post, and Angela getting in an intensive testing phase on their nanobots taking time from them away they needed to call.  
It was okay, but not easy.  
Their calls, when they both had time, getting shorter, Angela worrying about Fareeha overworking herself, Fareeha getting restless, sitting around, protecting two Professors in the most secluded place there was. Their nerves lay blank leaving enough seeming reason to fight about everything.

It only got worse with every passing day and by the fifth week Angela threw her holocom across the room, leaving it blinking on the ground. Angrily she rubbed the tears away that had started to roll down her cheeks. It had started as a joke, Angela saying by the time Fareeha came back she would have Satya ready for a threesome. Not the best joke she admitted and not a grain of truth to it but Fareeha, being tense from the impending might be danger hovering over her mission had reacted to it with an angry tirade, demanding Angela keeping her distance to “that woman”. Angela had responded, not willing to be controlled and it had turned into a full-fledged fight, leaving Fareeha screaming and her crying, hanging up on her.

Two more days passed and Angela found herself in her laboratory, waiting for a batch of nanobots to finish their test run, hopefully more successful than the last one, twirling a pen between her fingers. She had left a dozen messages to Fareeha at least but she neither had called her back nor read her messages. It made her angry and scared. She didn’t want what they had breaking apart already like all her relationships before. She couldn’t go back to what was before, finally finding the courage of dealing with the fall of Overwatch, her feelings and the past years.  
The pen broke with a loud snap between her fingers, a sharp plastic piece cutting her, a red drop of blood rolling down her hand. Cursing she got up, walking out of her laboratory, across the hall into a bathroom, cleaning the cut with a tissue. It wasn’t deep and the bleeding stopped as soon as she put a plaster over it.  
Hands on the edges of the sink she looked at herself in the mirror, eyes still red from old shed tears and sleepless nights, cheeks flushed, her hair a mess. She had to swallow, taking deep breaths to not start crying again or punching in the mirror – both seeming an appropriate response to her frustration right now. This wasn’t what she thought it would be like. The first weeks had been perfect, both of them looking forward to seeing each other again but a month separation after they just had admitted their feelings to each other wasn’t the best thing that had happened to them.

A single word crossed her mind – coffee. Coffee would fix this. Splashing cold water into her face, she felt her head clear a little, pushing work and Fareeha into the back of her mind. A testing look into the mirror showing her, that her eyes were a little less red and her cheeks were almost back to her normal colour. “Come on Angela.” She told her reflection: “You are not a teenage girl. You are Doctor Angela Ziegler, renowned doctor, researcher and first medic to Overwatch. You will handle this like an adult woman. There is work to be done and –“ she pulled up her hair in a new ponytail: “It has to be done by you.”  
Lena had talked her into trying to pep talk herself when she had found her exhausted and frustrated after a very promising batch of nanobots had combusted on her, leaving her laboratory a black, smoking mess and after some initial embarrassments it had become a habit of her whenever it seemed like it would all crash down on her.  
Feeling a little better and even managing a little smile she made her way to the kitchen. 

It was the middle of the night as usual and the kitchen lay empty. Since Satya had moved in and wasn’t a guest anymore the kitchen looked like it was new, being cleaned daily to not invoke the wrath of Satya, mostly being executed by a very bright, very loud light at 4am in the morning, waking everybody on the perimeter. Rubbing her eyes Angela started up the coffee machine, its gurgling sound filling the kitchen, the smell of hot, freshly brewed coffee making Angelas stomach cramp in hunger, reminding her of not having eaten more than the breakfast she had this morning.  
Someone had cooked and left half a lasagne in the fridge with a note reading “please eat before developing a life”.  
Still waiting for her coffee, Angela put a generous piece of it on a plate, putting it in the microwave, waiting for the promising ding as it gave her hot, steaming food. Paired with her favourite coffee mug she sat down on a table, eating, letting her thoughts wander about her work, keeping them away from anything Fareeha related. 

Drinking her coffee, the empty plate still in front of her, she watched the sun rising, colouring the sea with a dark red colour. She remembered a line from an old fantasy movie she had watched ages ago. “A red sun rises, blood has been spilled this night.”  
It hadn’t been an especially good movie but that may just her being used to better techniques for bringing fantasy creatures to life. The story had been good though although she didn’t remember how it all had ended.

Her holocom lit up, buzzing loudly, lighting up red. All alarms in her head went off as she opened it, hearing Jacks voice, pressed and tense: “Mercy, we need you in the medical bay, now!”  
She hadn’t heard her callsign since she had re-joined Overwatch, at least not used in this context.

She jumped up, leaving her coffee on the table, running through the halls, the closer she got to the medical bay the more people were up, running and shouting across the halls. Eyes followed her sprinting down the hallways, the way seeming longer than it should be. She nearly ran over Lena, arms wrapped around her, pale, eyes locked on a distant point.  
Turning the corner, she saw Ana, screaming something, being held by Reinhardt, his armour bloody, helmet removed, not letting her move from where she stood.  
The sounds around her got muffled by a ringing sound in her ears as she stormed through the doors of the medical bay, nurses running around, bloody sheets in their hands.

Jack saw her entering, his arms crossed, jaw clenched. Angela fought her way through the running nurses, reaching him breathless: “What”  
“Talon attacked the Professors. Mercy-“ he looked her in the eyes, deep worry painting them dark: “They shot Pharah down out of 7 meters height. She –“  
Angela didn’t hear him. Her mind turning blank, pushing Angela back leaving only room for Mercy.  
“Where?” was all she asked, Jack pointing to the second OR. She rushed past him stopping in front of the door, putting on gloves, before she entered the room.

The room was bright white, two doctors and a nurse standing around the operating table, machines beeping and humming. Angela saw a blood transfusion being prepped up. She moved past the nurse and the doctors to take a look at her patient.  
Female, 32 years old, no illnesses know, Blood group A negative, Callsign Pharah.  
Her suit had been removed, the shirt cut, revealing a third-degree burn reaching from between her shoulders down to the middle of her back. The skin was dark, bloody and ripped.  
Mercys eyes got small. There was too much blood for a burn and her patients breathing too rasp.  
Examining the burned skin, she carefully searched for entry wounds of any kind.  
Morrison said, the engine of her wing exploded, taking her out of the sky but if the engine exploded something must have set it off.  
She found what she was looking for, a deep hole in her shoulder, large enough to be from a sniper rifle but too small to be any kind of explosive. There was no exit wound. The bullet must be still in her body. Judging from the angle it must have shattered her scapula and pierced her lung.  
They needed to work fast or she would suffocate on her own blood.

Her orders were quick and clear, her hands moving with experience and trained precision. She had to remove multiple bone splinters from her patience back and lung, closing multiple ripped arteries to keep her patient from bleeding to death. She felt her jaw clenched as she removed a large piece of bone from her patients back, revealing an enormous rip in her lung tissue. It was a miracle she was still alive; the bone must have sealed it preventing blood from entering her lungs. Quickly closing it, she continued fixing her patients lung, closing arteries, sewing tissue back together, cauterizing what couldn’t be patched up. They would need to rebuild her right scapula completely.  
A patch of deep, dark red and black caught her eye.  
“Forceps” a Nurse handed it to her and she removed a long bullet from her patients body, letting it drop in a bowl, returning to the task at hand.  
“NB L-302” a syringe with nanobots got handed to her, injecting it in her patients bloodstream, her eyes never leaving her open back. The nanobots would fix her lung within a week completely.  
It was badly ripped apart by the bullet and the bone splinters, but lucky for her, her left lung was mostly unharmed, keeping her alive and breathing.  
Her vision blurred to red for a second, the lack of sleep beforehand taking its toll on her.  
Mercy shook her head. She couldn’t let herself rest now: “Get the BMM. We need –“ she stopped, feeling a hand on her shoulder. “Take a break. It’s been two hours, we have it.”  
Mercy resisted for a second, not wanting to leave her patient alone, her common sense quickly winning the fight between her pride and the duty she had as a doctor. She was useless if she couldn’t concentrate.  
“Take over for me.” She directed, taking a step back, shaking her head to clear her mind.  
A nurse came to her, dabbing off the sweat of her forehead before returning to the operating table.  
Mercy resisted the urge to wipe her eyes, her gloves still covered with blood. She needed to finish this, afterwards she could sleep but right now she was needed. She felt her control slip away for a second, feeling the fear for Fareeha, the anger at those who hurt her and the helpless rage only to help her to a certain point, before she calmed her beating heart, letting the doctor in her take over again, returning to the operation table.

It took hours until Mercy left the OR again, leaving her patient in the care of the other doctors. They had patched up her lung, the nanobots would do the rest, and her scapula had been completely reconstructed but it would take the patients body up to a month before she would be fully recovered. Her lab coat got thrown into a sack, gloves in the bin. Washing her hands, cleaning them from the sweat, her feet hurting from standing so long.  
She walked out of the room, past the nurses giving her questioning looks but no one daring to talk to her. She left the infirmary, seeing Reinhardt and Ana waiting, sitting on chairs god knew from where.  
Ana jumped up seeing Mercy coming through the door: “Will she be alright? Will my Fareeha be alright?” her voice was strong but Mercy saw the subsiding effects of a shock on her.  
“We don’t know. She is stable for now and if she makes it through the next 48 hours without any drops she will recover completely.”  
Ana sunk back into the chair, not crying but untypical pale for her, Reinhardt putting his arm around the woman who looked so small in her seat.  
“You need to sleep, as should we.” Reinhardt said in his deep, thunderous voice, eying Mercy before getting up, directing Ana through the corridors.  
Mercys eyes followed them before she turned to her own quarters.

The minute the door to her rooms closed behind her, Angela sank to her knees, her eyes overflowing with tears, face buried in her hands heavily sobbing. She couldn’t allow herself to be all Angela as long as she was on the battlefield and the life of her companions depended on her but with Fareeha being out of the worst and hopefully surviving all barriers broke down making way for a storm of feelings.  
Her arms wrapped around her knees, tears rolling down her chin she sobbed uncontrollably.  
Her sobs turning into choked sounds until she was screaming, her fists pounding on the floor, the pain in her hands dull until all anger and fear left her, leaving her leaning against the door, tears silently flowing until her eyes were dry, mind empty.

She didn’t know how long she stayed on the floor, watching the shadows wander across the wall of her room until she got up, leaving for the bathroom.  
Carelessly she dropped her clothes on the ground, entering the shower, turning the water to maximum. She stood there, letting the hot water wash over her, removing the traces of the tears she had shed, relaxing her body, untangling her hair, washing sweat and the smell of disinfectant away from her. It took her forever to blow dry her hair, pull out some random clothes and get to the kitchen. She didn’t care much but she needed to eat, her hands shaking from the lack of sleep.

Satya and Lena sat on a table, exchanging whispers. As soon as she entered the room Lena got up, blinking to her, leading her wordless to their table to sit, blinking to the kitchen and back, placing more of the lasagne and a cup of coffee in front of her, aside from: “Eat Luv” still wordless.  
Angela felt Satyas eyes on her as she half-heartedly pushed the lasagne from one side of her plate to the other until it finally found its way to her mouth. It didn’t taste like much, even the coffee didn’t taste like much. She heard Lena ask her how she was doing and heard herself answer, but her mind still felt empty and blank. She emptied her cup, leaving her plate half eaten, thanking the two of them for sitting with her and left for the medical bay.

Taking a fresh lab coat from her laboratory, Mercy decided to look after her patient. She knew that coffee only was a temporary solution to her lack of sleep and if she wanted to work on maximum efficiency her body needed sleep and soon. But before that she needed to check on her patient. She trusted her doctors but she was the one in charge and as that it was her responsibility to look after everyone under her care.  
Pharahs eyes were closed, her breathing rasp but regular. Mercy took the documents at the foot of her bed, inspecting them closely. There didn’t seem to be any unforeseen relapses, her blood pressure slowly returning to normal levels as did all her other vital signs. The regular beeping of the monitors calmed her, an inspection of the bandages on her patient satisfying her medical need of knowledge about her patients’ status.

Angela pushed a strand of hair out of Fareehas face, caressing her cheek. “Sorry I wasn’t there to save you” she whispered, her fingers hovering over her lips, letting her shallow breath brush against them. The skin of her neck was warm, despite the strain her body must be under, feeling her pulse strong against her finger tips. She didn’t need to feel it, the machines told her as much and the nanobots in her body would have sounded of an alarm if her heart did as much as flutter, but it calmed her, feeling Fareehas heart, strong, determined not to give up, just like its owner.  
She felt her lips tremble, taking her hand back, leaving the medical bay, returning to her room.

The sun was already setting, the dull pain in the back of her head telling her that she had been up for two days straight and it would soon take its toll on her. She discarded her cloths, slipping in a too big shirt, cuddling herself into her bed, her eyes falling shut as soon as her head came to rest on her pillow, her last thoughts were with Fareeha.


	6. Patching you up

Her sleep was deep, untroubled by any dreams. The second she woke she had a weird feeling in her stomach, her chest tight as if she had missed something, something important.   
Despite her worries the sun shown strong and bright through her window, Angela, standing only in her oversized shirt in front of the window, enjoying the warmth on her skin. She had calmed down, the doctor inside her telling her that nobody had woken her thus Fareeha being out of danger for now and only needing to wake up.

Forcing herself to take a detour to the dining hall before seeing Fareeha, her steps were fast without being hasty, her worries slowly being calmed by the doctor in her. Grabbing a sandwich from the breakfast buffet they started having she flew through the corridors to the medical wing, running into Ana just leaving. 

Anas face was relaxed, showing relief that was badly hidden behind a mask she had put on as an experienced soldier. The moment she saw Angela come down the corridor she walked towards her, taking her into a tight embrace.

Angela froze, sandwich in hand, mouth full of cheese and bread, stiff in Anas embrace. Captain Amari had never shown anybody this kind of affection – not public at least – and she didn’t know how to react let alone handle it. Ana seemed to regain her composure, taking a step back from the still frozen Angela, who even had stopped chewing her breakfast: “Thank you for saving my daughter” her voice was rasp, telling stories of hours full of worry.  
“I did my job” Angela replied, voice muffled through the sandwich, slightly fluttered at Anas outburst of affection towards here: “But thank you, I guess?” Ana gave her a nod and disappeared around a corner, leaving a slightly startled but proud Angela behind.

The medical bay smelled like disinfectant. It was empty except for Fareeha and a nurse cleaning. Angela pulled up a chair and sat next to her bed, watching her chest slightly rise and fall. The nanobots seemed to perform an excellent job repairing Fareehas lung, considering that her breathing was less forced, less rasp then the day before. If she just would wake up.

Mercy picked up the documents on her patient once again, checking for any irregularities but all seemed fine. The strain of the operation took a toll on her patients’ body like expected but all vital signs spoke of a fast recovery. It worried her, that she hadn’t woken up, even for a short time.   
The medication she had set her under was already dosed smaller than normal to not risk her going into a coma. They decided on not using pain medication for the nanobots not functioning correctly with most of the available compounds. Her blood was free of any traces of poison or other chemicals that shouldn’t be there. She put the documents back, a sight escaping her.

It wasn’t unusual for a patient to not take exactly the rout to recovery doctors had foretold them but with her personal emotions and attachment towards Fareeha, she was extra careful. Being Mercy helped her perform her job fast and clean, no matter who was her patient but it didn’t speak her free of fear. worry and anger after she had left her patients side as a doctor.  
Her eyes were pinned at Fareehas mouth, slightly opening with every breath she took, her lips dry and chapped. She wanted to fasten her recovery, wanted nothing more than to see Fareeha open her eyes again but there was nothing she could do, neither as Dr. Ziegler, Mercy nor Angela despite waiting.

“She won’t recover sooner if you keep staring at her” Startled Angela looked up, staring at Satya, arms crossed, watching her. “You need some distraction. Come on. I have been working on something.” Wordless Angela stood up, taking a last look at Fareehas sleeping face and followed Satya to the laboratories that were dedicated to the technical and architectural research Overwatch had started. Next to a huge hall there were little rooms adjoined for different projects, architects, engineers and technicians working on their projects side by side.

“Listen, I know your mind is clouded with worry and your job as a doctor must throw you off balance, but- “ Satya gave a short pin into the pad of a secured room: “I have been working on something, that might cheer you up.”  
The door to the room slid open with a satisfying beep, revealing the wings of her suit hanging from the ceiling, mounted on a new attachment she normally wore on her back.

“What – are you doing with my wings?” Angela asked, her fingers tracing the cool material. They were the same as usual. She didn’t see any difference beside the mounting piece.  
“You remember us talking about the synergy my arm has with my body?” Satya asked, raising her mechanical arm: “You said, despite growing, this was the closest anybody ever came to completely create an artificial body part. A medical miracle so to speak of, giving me back the entire control over this machine.” She came up to Angela, removing the mounting of the wings, handing it to her: “It is still not complete and not even close to the perfection I strive for, but this should give you the ability to feel your wings, giving you greater control over your flying manoeuvres and after sufficient training you will be able to focus on being a medic in the field alone without thinking too much about the machines on your back.”

Angela huffed an unbelieving laugh: “You can’t do that. The human brain isn’t capable of dealing with an attachment of this kind.” Her fingers tracing the lights and the rims where two parts met.  
A hint of annoyance crept into Satyas voice: “That’s why I told you it’s not ready. It needs some testing, adjustments to be made. I don’t possess the medical knowledge necessary for this and I can only take my best guess-“ her lips twitching with dissatisfaction: “as to what pressure it would put the mind of the pilot under.”  
“How does it work?” Angela asked, still inspecting the mounting device.  
“This-“ Satya took a long chain of little pieces attached to each other off her table: “will create a link to your spinal cord with the help of Nanobots. Not- “ she raised her free hand seeing Angelas look: “a direct one. It can be attached and detached from your suit, without harming you or be worn separate to your suit although I don’t advise it. After that- “ she pointed to the device in Angelas hands: “you put this on, attach your wings and then and only then we will establish the link.”

At the thought of anything being attached to her central nervous system Angela had to swallow hard: “What happens if the – device gets ripped off mid battle?”  
Satyas eyes darkened: “It would put you under immense pain. I would need to see how the link works in general, but I assume it would feel like someone rips off your arms with you being at full consciousness.” She took the device out of Angelas hands, attaching it back to the wings: “As I said it isn’t even close for a field test, and I need to implement a direct separation from you and the link in emergency situations, but all simulations I ran so far are very promising.”  
Satyas eyes had that fire she always got, when she was close to a breakthrough in one of her projects: “I know you have a lot on your mind with Amari and the cure-development seems to run in circles, but do you think you are ready for the first test run?”

Angela shifted her weight, her fingers playing with the nametag on her coat absentmindedly. Satya had a point with the cure and the time the batches needed to be tested was filled with coffee and headaches. “What if someone needs me in the medical wing?” she asked. If the test were to leave her disabled to do her work, it wasn’t worth it, as much as she wanted to be part of this.  
“I can’t guarantee you being completely unaffected. It took me a while to get used to this arm and you are not trying to get used to a replacement but a whole new body part. You are the doctor. You tell me what effects that could have on you.”   
“I need to think this over. The tech is amazing Satya, don’t get me wrong but I can’t endanger my abilities as a Doctor right now.”  
“It’s fine” Satya waving her hand: “I didn’t expect you to jump in right away but really think about this. I am on to something here.”  
“I will-“ Angela said, still admiring the work Satya must have put into this project.  
She felt Satyas eyes on her: “Go back to your girlfriend I can’t stand you being indecisive.”  
Angela turned around to her friend: “I’m not- “ “Sure. Just go back.”

Angela left, a little flustered. She had been sure Satya was clueless about what she was up too but apparently, she was not. It wasn’t that she was embarrassed about Fareeha and her but after the fights they had and the fact that they never clearly outlined the two of them being together and with 5 weeks separation, she herself wasn’t sure if they even were together.  
She put it on the need to talk about list as soon as Fareeha woke up and had recovered from her injuries – if she ever woke up that was.  
Shaking her head Angela tried to get rid of that thought. It was too early to worry about this. It hadn’t been even two days since she had been shot and even less time since the operation. She remembered a time when she patched up Jack only to wait for two weeks until he opened his eyes again. Fareeha was young enough to heal up quickly, the nanobots accelerating the process. 

It took her no time to be back at the medical bay, sitting next to Fareeha again, watching her breath. Satyas project had brightened up her mood but it didn’t help get rid of her worries.   
Besides that, the lingering feeling of something being not right was back and she just couldn’t put her finger on it. Her year long experience told her, that she did everything in her power for Fareeha, her mind telling her, that she could trust her doctors, her heart telling her everything would be alright between her and Fareeha as soon as they had the opportunity to talk. But still…  
She let her mind wander, the beeping of the machines and Fareehas rough but regular breathing calming her, giving her time to rest.

A loud beeping ripped her from her sleep. It was way past midnight; the medical bay was empty except for her. Mercy jumped up, taking a look at the monitors attached to Pharah and her patient herself, only to relax a little, seeing her patient sitting up in her bed, the cables attached to the heartrate monitoring machines dangling from her patients’ hand.  
That’s what set of the beeping.

Pharah opened her eyes, the last thing she remembered being a loud explosion, a pain ripping through her body and air rushing past her. Something was uncomfortably on her chest, pressing cold against her skin. With an energic junk she ripped the cables from her chest, sitting up, eyes searching for an immediate threat to fight, falling on Mercy, standing next to the bed she was laying in.

Mercy raised an eyebrow, nanobots and the likes being all good but such a reaction after waking up was highly unusual but the nanobots monitoring her patients’ vital signs still didn’t ring any alarm. If she got the time at some point she needed to ask Pharah to stand by for some testing on how her physic worked exactly. With such an affinity to nanobot healing, finding the exact cause of it would give her a great- 

Fareeha swung her legs over the edge of her hospital bed, her naked feet on the cold ground, wrapping her arms around Angelas waist, pulling her close, face buried against her stomach and started sobbing uncontrollably. The memories of the fight between them just before Talon attacked them came back, the short fear of never seeing her again the second the bullet penetrated her armour and pierced through her flesh. All the anger, fear and confusion hit her at once, leaving her only able to cry.

“You really shouldn’t rip off anything attached to you the second you wake up”, Angela whispered with tearful voice, her hands caressing Fareehas dark, thick hair, pulling her close.   
“Next time, I promise I won’t” Fareeha mumbled against Angelas lab coat.  
“I’d rather you promise me there won’t be a next time.” Angela chuckled, a single tear rolling down her cheek, dripping on Fareehas hair, shining there like a little fallen star.  
She felt the knot in her stomach loosening until it disappeared, only hardly holding back her tears as she felt Fareehas arms wrap tighter around her, almost pulling her off her feet and onto the bed.

“Me too- but” she whispered, gently pushing Fareeha back, inspecting her red eyes: “I still need to do my job unless you want me to call another doctor?”   
Fareeha shook her head, sitting back on the bed, letting Angela light a little flashlight in her eyes, testing her mobile abilities and inspecting her almost completely healed skin. It would leave a scar but that was to be expected. Nanotechnology still couldn’t fix everything.  
“Okay listen, you had some pretty heavy internal bleeding and your right scapula had to be reconstructed completly. We managed to fix everything up so you won’t be left with any permanent damages to your body. But I still need you to rest and have you under observation for at least 48 hours.” 

Fareeha nodded again, leaning back on her bed, getting her legs back under the warm blanket and out of the clean but cold air. She felt a barrier between her mind and her memories, keeping her from remembering everything of the fight. She knew it would pass after a few hours, keeping her head cool and clean after imminent danger was over, her team save and wounds treated.   
She remembered the important parts thought, Talon attacking them, killing one scientist and taking the other.  
She jumped up again, a pain ripping through her back, leaving her gasping, clenching her fists: “What’s with Reinhardt? I remember him being hit.”

“Don’t do that again.” Mercy ordered, her voice cold, helping her to sit up straight to inspect if the sharp movement had done any damage. “Reinhardt is fine”, her voice softened, directing Fareeha to lay down: “His armour is scratched and I won’t take responsible for anything your mother did to him holding her back from entering the OR but other than that he escaped the fight unscathed.”

Fareeha groaned, hiding her face behind her hands: “My Mum will kill me. She never wanted me to join Overwatch and the life it comes with. This happening on my second mission – “ she peeped through her fingers, seeing Angela at the end of her bed writing something on her medical board thing. The cool moonlight falling through the window giving her an angelic glow.  
“I am sorry”

Angela looked up, nearly dropping her documents: “What?”

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to fight. I didn’t mean what I said. I just…” she stopped, struggling with the words, fighting with herself.   
It never was easy for her to admit, that she had been wrong, especially when the last thing she had heard was Angela sobbing until the call was shut down.  
“- I am not good, dealing with – “ Angelas lips sealed hers, stopping her from saying anything more. She felt her face being cupped by Angelas hands, pulled in for a deeper kiss, her lips dry and chapped on Angelas soft ones. 

They broke apart after a few sweet seconds, leaving Angela smiling and Fareeha breathless.  
“I won’t say it’s okay” Angela whispered, her hands still caressing Fareehas cheeks: “because it really wasn’t.” Fareeha swallowed hard, her eyes pinned at Angelas. “but right now, I just am glad you are alive, awake and recovering. We can sort this out when you have the strength to fight back?”  
Fareeha chuckled lightly, holding back tears: “That is very noble of you.”  
“I AM an Angel you know?” Angela bowed down, leaving a quick kiss on Fareehas smiling lips: “Sleep now. The sooner you rest the faster you will recover.”   
She turned, being held back by Fareehas hand holding her own: “You stay, right?” Fareeha mumbled, already slipping back into sleep  
“Of course, I will” Angela replied softly, pulling the chair to her, sitting down, still holding Fareehas hand as her eyes closed and she fell asleep.

Angela woke before the morning shift arrived. Lucky for her because it would have been a really awkward conversation to explain, why she was half laying on top of her patient. Fareeha was still asleep, her breathing even and strong speaking for the nanobots to having their job almost completed. Angela got up, smoothing her cloths, tightening her ponytail.  
She should get Ana. If she would ever find out her daughter had been awake and Angela didn’t go get her promptly, chances stood good she would shoot her. 

The sun was not yet up so she hoped of finding Ana in her rooms.  
The old guard had all their rooms in the same wing. Not a smart choice as every time Angela passed Gabriels old room it gave her a cold sting. Anas room was right next to Jacks and Reinhardts, her door still marked by a bullet hole, Ana shot the door once while she was calling with Fareeha, her daughter telling her that some girl had been mean to her at school pulling her hair so Fareeha had punched her into the infirmary and had been suspended. Angela still couldn’t but smile at that memory. They all had been so proud, teasing Ana that Fareeha was already getting like her mother. 

She stopped, knocking on the door, waiting for an answer. She almost got shot once by barging into Anas room and Jack had been shot twice, leaving her to clean up the mess. As to that all of them had a mutual agreement of not entering Anas room. She heard hasty, heavy steps, a door closing and then lighter steps followed by a click and Ana opening the door. Angela did her best not to chuckle at the sight of Ana wearing light blue pyjamas with the Overwatch logo on them. 

Anas face paled at the sight of the chef of the medical department standing in front of her door with her daughter in the medical bay: “Is she alright?” Her voice was cold with the control of an experienced soldier used to losing people in battle but Angela could see a hint of fear in her eyes.  
“She is alright. She woke up and is recovering fast. I thought you might want to see her, although she might be asleep again by the time we get back.”   
She saw a glow in Anas eyes, that told her she would have stormed right to the medical bay in her Overwatch pyjamas but something was holding her back. “I’ll be right back.”  
The door didn’t stay shut for more than five minutes as Ana came back, more running than walking, past Angela to the medical bay.

Angela arrived a whole minute after Ana in the medical bay to find her in a deep embrace with her daughter. Angela waited in the door to Fareehas room, not wanting to interrupt the two of them, a careful look on the machines still monitoring Fareehas vital signs but besides a harmless accelerated heartrate all was good. Angela turned her back, leaving the two of them alone, returning to her work on nanobots. She would later check on Fareeha again, but for now there was no need. 

She let herself slump into her chair, staring on the displays of her monitors. She was exhausted, wanted to sleep, needed to talk to Fareeha and felt like she needed a few days off after the last five weeks of constant work, but she felt like she was close to something on the nanobot cure. A new message blinked on the upper left of her screen. Opening it a mission report appeared on the display. Reinhardt must have given it to Jack at some point.  
Skimming through the text she stumbled across the words Talon, Widowmaker – a stupid name but she was called Mercy so okay – and the abduction of the scientist. Her heart froze at the mention of Fareeha Amari, callsign Pharah, getting hit. Jack had attached a note, calling Ana, Reinhardt, Lena and two others Angela didn’t know to a meeting for the location and if possible extraction of the abducted scientist.

Sighting Angela leaned back. She had the feeling of having much more to do as Mercy than she wanted. Despite that, now that Fareeha was awake and on the road to recovery, the uneasy feeling returned. It couldn’t be Fareeha related, she was out of the worst, so what was it.  
Angela started playing with a pen, her eyes searching the room for some clue as to what was keeping her uneasy. Everything was in its place, machines humming, displays shining, everything was as it should be. But still… it seemed like somebody was watching her.


	7. That was for your own good.

A week past by without this weird feeling of being watched vanishing but Angela was busy with taking care of Fareeha which proved more difficult than it initially seemed. The second Fareeha was allowed out of the medical bay, she wanted to get back in her suit, back to training and back on missions which Angela just couldn’t allow. She tried explaining to Fareeha, that her body would have taken at least six weeks to heal without the nanobots and her scapula intact until she would have been fine but Fareeha didn’t want to hear that.

She felt fine. She could move without pain so she was fine. She told Angela over and over again that she had been through worse, which was only half true, and that she needed to get back to training for making up the few days she hadn’t.  
Since Angela was the doctor – and had at some point talked to Ana about this problem – Fareeha was forced to take it slow. From that point on, she started to spend more and more time with Angela, most of the time reading, sitting in a chair in Angelas private laboratory, still a little bit pouting about it but accepting her fate. 

Angela felt a little guilty, that she loved Fareeha being incapable of going back on missions, since it meant they could spend a lot of time together, still under the pretence of taking care of her patient. Besides, Fareeha brought her coffee and food and took good care of her in general, attending to all her needs. 

After initial mistrust Satya and Fareeha became something like friends.   
They didn’t really really like each other but for the sake of Angela got along and accepted each other’s presence, Fareeha still fighting with her jealousy although she knew there was no reason too and Satya having trouble with Fareeha speaking her mind more often than exercising control over herself. It worked in a weird kind of way and they resorted to an insult based friendship.  
Angela ignored their bickering most of the time. As long as they didn’t kill each other she was fine. 

The nanobot research came to a halt when Jack asked her to look into the research of the Professors, Scientists and Experts that started disappearing, despite the effort Overwatch did in protecting each and every one of them. There wasn’t any clue as to where to or who took them but all of them knew it was Talons work. 

“You look troubled”, Fareeha said, bending over her, looking at the article that was displayed on the screen. “I just don’t like the work of this one. Instead of dedicating his mind to the healing of people he generates biological weapons” Angela leaned back on her chair, looking up at Fareeha: “We could do so much good if we gave the time that goes into developing new weapons into medicine.”  
Fareeha wrapped her arms around her, giving her a lenient smile: “Somebody needs to protect the innocent from the bad guys.”  
“There wouldn’t be any need to protect anyone if there were no weapons”, Angela grumbled, leaning into Fareehas embrace.   
“You don’t really think; those people would stop developing weapons just because we do?”  
Angela escaped a deep sight: “No… I know. I just wish- “ she closed her eyes, her hands searching for Fareehas: “We could stop fighting. Violence is not the answer to anything.”  
“I know, but the world won’t work like this” Fareeha pushed the golden hair out of Angelas face and leaned in for a soft kiss.

“Ugh. Can’t the two of you exercise control over yourself at least at your workplace?”   
“Can’t you learn to knock?” Fareeha mumbled, stealing another kiss from Angela before she returned Satyas gaze.  
“I would knock but I can hear the cloths falling off from inside my laboratories so I decided to intervene. Sorry Amari.”   
“You just wanted to watch” Fareeha smirked, crossing her arms: “Since you yourself don’t get any action.”  
“Oh. I get-“ “Kindly stop it. I can’t listen to you like this.“ Angela raised her hand, standing up: “What is it Satya?” “If you got some time on your hands, the wings would be ready for a first test.”

Excitement flushed Angela mixed with a little fear. She knew Satya had been working on calibrating the sensitivity of the wings and the emergency disconnect system had already been tested and worked perfectly. But Angela still hadn’t worn them once and she was still uneasy about something connecting with her spinal cord but eager to try. Fareeha hadn’t been that excited either about the wings idea but it was mostly because Satya came up with it and Angela was so excited about it.  
Since Angela didn’t want to read any more about the development of weapons, she shut her displays off, following Satya to her laboratory, Fareeha on their heels.

“I’m not sure how the spine will work with your normal cloths so please put on this shirt.” Satya threw a sleeveless top at her: “It’s made from the same material your suit is so you can get used to the feeling.” Nodding, Angela started to undress, not without noticing Fareeha eying her and Satya smirking at Fareehas obvious stare. 

The mounting device was a little heavier than the one she was used to. The spine attaching itself to her. Different from what she expected there was not pain or the pricking of needles or anything but just the feeling of additional support. It was a reassuring feeling.  
“Let’s test this in a space, that’s not so confined.” Satya said, mounting off the wings, handing them to Fareeha: “Don’t drop them, Amari or I will literally kill you.”  
Angela was sure seeing Fareeha roll her eyes, mimicking Satyas movements.

Satya had reserved a small training hall for them. The ceiling was high enough for some simple flight praxis with the possibility of montaging obstacles throughout the hall.  
Satya took the wings from Fareeha, mounting them on Angelas device: “We have talked about this. If anything doesn’t go as planned may it be pain or something else you shut the link down!” she said to Angela, pointing to the little button that was attached to a wristband.  
“I know. I will don’t worry I am a grown up too thank you very much.” Angela smiled over her own insecurity about this. 

“If you are ready, I will establish the link then.” Angela took a look at Fareeha, arms crossed leaned against a wall, her eyes not leaving Angela. She saw the worry painting her eyes dark but still giving her a supporting nod and a little smile. “I’m ready.” Angela took a deep breath, clenching her fists, stepping into the middle of the hall. Her wings seemed heavier, than she was used to.  
“Link established.”

A storm of impressions flooded Angelas head, sending her gasping to her knees. Her body trembled with the flood of new senses coursing through her body, her breath short and forced. It didn’t hurt but it was too much at once. She heard Fareeha shout something before it all turned to black.

She woke up with the feeling of something missing. Fareeha had her arms wrapped around her, holding her in a sitting position. She saw her wings on the floor, Satya leaning over them, adjusting something. “Angela, are you alright?” Fareehas voice was breathless, tightening her grip around her. “I think I am.” She was still a little shook, sitting up, hands reaching for the point where her wings were supposed to start. “I- “ she stopped, thinking for a second: “I think I miss them.”  
“You just got knocked out and you miss them?” Fareeha was on the brink of shouting: “Those things knocked you out cold and you miss them?!”   
“I’m really fine.” Angela whispered. Being completely honest she felt great. True, the sensation was too much at once and she hadn’t been prepared for it but it was a good feeling.  
“Don’t shout at her.” Satya stood before them: “Calm down Amari! She just got flooded with the sensation of having a completely new body part and it got ripped away from her again within minutes. You shouting at her won’t help. “  
“You listen to me, Vaswani. Your tec just send my girlfriend to the ground within seconds and that on your count” Fareehas voice got louder and angrier with every word: “so doN’T YOU TELL ME, TO STAY CALM!!!”

Angelas ears were ringing, a bright red flushing her cheeks. She actually considered her as her girlfriend. It had been clear, the way she treated her and spend time with her but she never had said anything like this.  
It took her a second to regain her composure from the sensations still coursing through her body and being called Fareehas girlfriend, before she got back on her feet, taking in her surroundings.  
Fareeha and Satya stood in front of each other, Fareeha shouting, Satyas voice getting colder with every word, her eyes hard as stone.   
She felt a cold sting in her heart, seeing for a second Gabriel and Jack in the same pose, shouting at each other. Her chest tightened, anger rose in her: “AUFHÖREN!”

They stopped. Both turning around to Angela with a slight look of surprise on their faces. Angela took a deep breath, relaxing her hands that had clenched into fists; “I am fine.” She said to Fareeha, her voice struggling with staying calm: “Satya couldn’t have foreseen what would happen.”  
She turned to Satya: “Fareeha is just worried. She is as much as impressed by your work as everybody else but she still wants me to come out on top of this and not smashed on the floor so please cut her some slack.”  
The two women nodded, Fareeha biting her lip, clenching and relaxing her hands, Satya looking a little guilty of having lost control.

“I want to try again.” “No.” was Fareehas imminent response but she shut her mouth as soon as she saw Angela looking at her.  
“I have modified the intensity of the link. You shouldn’t feel as much through the wings now. Like this they won’t be very useful in the field but we probably should get you adjusted to the feeling first.” “You think?” Fareeha snapped, leaning against a wall again, watching as Satya mounted the wings once again between Angelas shoulders.   
“You should sit down. Just in case.” Satya said, making some last adjustments to the wings, before taking some steps back.   
“Are you ready?”

The second time was easier, the sensation still flooding her mind but she was prepared for worse and it wasn’t a flood as much as a gentle wave. It still left her gasping a bit, the sensation of her wings slightly moving in the air being amazing. After a minute, she regained a little control over her senses, trying to move her newly found body part. It felt like being under partial anaesthesia. She knew, her body part was there. She could feel the command of moving going from her brain to her back into the wings and a response coming back with the note of it successfully been executed. But her wings stubbornly refrained from moving on her demand.   
It took her an hour until her wings did as much as twitching, Satya suggesting, that she would need to increase the sensitivity for faster progress, with Fareeha each time grunting a comment.

After three hours of wings not moving Angela was frustrated. She knew it could get the body weeks to get used to an artificial arm for example before the patient could do as much as twitch his fingers but she wanted results and she wanted them now.  
“Maybe we should get a break.” Fareeha suggested, sitting on the floor, playing with a ball she had picked up from god knew where.   
“I agree with Amari on this.” Satya said earning a weird look from Fareeha, getting up from her chair, where she had sat and made notes: “We already raised the sensitivity four times. It’s a bit over half of it and you need to rest if we don’t want you getting a headache from the strain this is putting you under.”  
“I can do this. I just want to move them once or spread them or anything.” Angela said through clenched teeth, mentally screaming at her wings to move.  
“It could be, that the link isn’t working as it should.” Satya said, her voice pressed, hating to even think about the possibility of her design being flawed.  
“It… is… fine…” Angela said, her voice strained with concentration.  
“Okay, that’s it. We are removing those things off your back and getting you something to eat.” Fareeha stood up, coming towards her.  
“NICHT!” Angela turned around, angry at herself for not making progress, not willing to let Fareeha take this away from her. 

Fareehas eyes widened with surprise, a mixture of being impressed and smiling appearing on her face: “Nice one. I gotta admit Vaswani. I am impressed. Slightly” she added. Not willing to give Satya the triumph of having impressed her.   
Angela was confused. This wasn’t the reaction she had expected, until she felt a hand moving over her wings, spread in annoyance, the tips slightly shivering with frustration and anger: “Impressive. The link does work but right now it needs strong emotions to actually do its task.”  
Satya inspected the shivering of the tips, slowly calming: “Are you feeling better?” she asked. Angela nodded, a broad, proud smile appearing on her face.  
“I think all you need is practice. I won’t deepen the bond between you and the wings since it would be dangerous if your wings got damaged or destroyed in battle.” Satya took another inspection of the wings, which were slowly folding back: “But I think that’s enough for today. You need to rest. We don’t need to strain this.”  
Satya got back to her table, writing some notes, eyes pinned on her writing.

“It’s truly amazing.” Fareeha whispered, making sure, Satya couldn’t hear her.   
“You look like an Angel with these.” She smiled, her hands brushing a sweaty strand of hair out of Angelas face, caressing her cheek. “Thank you.” Angela blushed, her mind being occupied with the girlfriend thing again. An electric shock ran through her body, as Fareeha brushed over her wing, making her gasp and shiver with pleasure: “Don’t – don’t do that.” She gasped, Fareeha giving her a confused look. 

It took her a second to understand what just happened and the confused look was replaced by a wide grin. She pulled Angela close, whispering in her ear: “So, the second Vaswani leaves the room, I am so going to take advantage of this.” Angela turned a light rose colour. It was adorable, Fareeha giving her a quick kiss: “Before that, we need to get something to eat. I am starving and I didn’t do anything besides sitting around, worrying about you.”

The second the link was closed, the wings dismounted and Angela back in her cloths, she couldn’t help but miss them. It wasn’t as bad, as the first times they had dismounted the wings, but she still couldn’t help it. To Fareehas disappointment, Satya had locked the wings away, to keep anybody from tempering with them. But she couldn’t find any reason to talk her into not locking them without giving her a pretty good idea what she was planning on doing.

Fareeha mumbled through all of lunch things about Satya being too careful and too protective of her work and she should think of others, Angela just being amused, Satya ignoring her.   
“Angela, I had expected a report about the work of Dr. Zatanni an hour ago.” Jack came to their table, Fareeha offering him a chair but he declined.  
“Scheiße” Angela mumbled before answering Jack: “I’m sorry I had some training sessions with my new suit.” “Satya told me about it. Can I expect you to wear it on your next mission?”  
Angela looked up, a little surprised: “I’m getting assigned to a mission?”  
“Yes. Well, with the medical bay up and running we don’t necessarily need you here. Even if we had an emergency here, our doctors should be able to handle it without you and we need a medic in the field.” Jack nodded towards Fareeha: “You will go with her, Reinhardt and me on a mission to Germany. We expect a fight so we need to be prepared in case somebody gets hurt, so we don’t make as close a call as last time.” Angela noticed Fareeha clenching her fist.  
“When are we planning on leaving?”  
“About three weeks from now. Reinhardt and I still have to do some planning and your suit isn’t ready for the field as Satya has told me. Anyway – “ he turned, giving her a last look: “send me the report by 6pm latest. And get some rest, you look exhausted.”

Returning to her laboratory, Angela continued with the reports of the Biological-Killing-Doctor as she secretly called him. Fareeha excused herself to do some light training with and under the supervision of her mother. Angela was sure, Ana would rip Fareeha apart the second she strained herself too much and let her go. The second she had entered her laboratory, the feeling of being watched overcame her once again. Her room hadn’t any cameras in it, she had them taken down after she had started to work on the nanobots, so what or who was watching her. Her documents where in the same order – or more chaos – that she had left them in and her computer history didn’t show any files being opened, used or copied while she was away so nobody had been here. It made her uneasy, but she continued working on the report.

It was well past midnight when Fareeha knocked on the door. Angela had fallen asleep on her work at some point and was still a little drunk from sleep as she opened her laboratory door, staring into Fareehas eyes. “Don’t stand so close to the door please.” Angela mumbled, rubbing her eyes.  
“Sorry” Fareeha smiled, shifting her weight from one foot to the other: “I wanted to ask you a favour.” “Are you alright?” Angela took her sight in. She seemed fine, apart from some bruises she must have gotten while she trained with her mother.   
“Yes. Yes. I- “ Fareeha struggled for words, something Angela had only seen once before.

Taking a deep breath, Fareeha finally said: “I think, after calling you my girlfriend today, I might as well ask, if you would mind us sleeping together?” Angela was baffled at that and couldn’t help but chuckle nervously: “Is that a fancy way of saying, have sex with me?”  
“Not that way-“ Fareeha sounded a little annoyed but smiled: “I meant like just sharing a bed together. Like that night maybe?”  
Angelas cheeks flushed bright red with joy. Truthfully, she wouldn’t have minded Fareeha asking for sex since that one night at the sea they hadn’t done anything like that, Angela being often too busy and Fareeha still recovering – not that she cared and hadn’t tried but Angela cared enough for both of them. But just falling asleep in Fareehas arms, just the idea of waking up next to her, filled her heart with overflowing love. A little squeal of joy escaped her lips as she hugged Fareeha, both of them going to the ground from her excited, stormy embrace. 

“I hoped for a yes but I didn’t think it would be so vigorous.” Fareeha smiled, her face buried in Angelas soft hair, taking in her scent, wrapping her arms around her, hugging her tightly. Angela buried her face in the creak of her neck, hiding her tears of joy from Fareeha, a little embarrassed about her over excitement. Fareeha sat up, pulling Angela with her, before getting up: “Its late you should be in your room anyway.”  
“You looked here first?” Angela mumbled, entwining her hand with Fareehas: “I know you.”

Fareeha pulled Angela through the corridors. After the short question of where they wanted to sleep, they had decided on Fareehas rooms, Angelas being too close to Anas room for Angelas liking.   
“You know, at some point I am going to tell my mother.” Fareeha said as she opened the door to her room, letting Angela in. “I know. It’s stupid but I am still dating the Captains daughter. I’m not so sure how well she will take it.” “You may not believe this, but I have been dating before you.” Fareeha said, closely watching Angelas reaction to her words: “And my mother knew about it.” “But you where what, like under eighteen?”  
“Yeah… but-“  
“I don’t want to fight about this. And I don’t want to keep this a secret forever.” Angela took Fareehas hands in her own: “I am just a little… scared?”   
“Listen” Fareeha took Angelas face into her hands, locking eyes with her: “We both are adults and I am way past listening to my mother on relationship advice as long as she doesn’t get anywhere.”  
“What?”  
Fareeha shook her head: “Not important. What I am telling you, is, that I want to be together with you and I don’t care what anybody might say about this.”  
Angela felt her eyes filling with tears again, cursing her habit of not getting enough sleep and getting emotional when tired. Nodding she tiptoed to give Fareeha a deep kiss, closing her eyes, feeling the warmth of her arms around her. 

The broke apart after a minute, Angela taking a look around Fareehas room, her eyes getting caught on a poster on the wall. Grinning she turned around to Fareeha, who was just closing the door behind her: “You have a poster of Reinhardt? Still? Didn’t you have the same as a kid?”  
Fareeha didn’t even blink: “Yes I do and I am very fond of it.”  
Angela chuckled, inspecting the room further. Fareeha had only a small collection of books, a little potted plant on the edge of a small table and a couple of handles next to her bed.  
“You don’t use them, are you?” Angela turned around, her eyes small.  
“Not as long as I don’t want my mother or you to kill me, no.” Fareeha said, undressing, folding her shirt and pants neatly, putting them on a stack of clothes to be washed.  
Standing only in underwear in front of Angela, she gave her an amused look: “Do I need to help you undress or do you want to stay like this?”  
“I didn’t take any pyjamas with me” Angela whispered, the sight of Fareehas slender, trained body in front of her distracting her. What was she, like thirteen? She thought, a little annoyed at herself.   
“You can just take one of my shirts.” Fareeha said, pointing to a dresser, putting on a shirt and pants that lay on her bed. 

Angela put down her lab coat on a chair, opening the upper drawer, pulling out a random shirt, simple blue with the big white hieroglyph of Horus eye on it.   
Quickly she undressed, pulling the too large shirt over, standing a little helpless in the middle of the room.   
“Come on, this can’t be your first time having a sleepover.” Fareeha said, lifting her up, carrying her to the bed, sitting her down carefully: “In case you didn’t know, this is where you go.” She teased, getting into bed next to Angela, pulling the blanked over the two of them.  
Angela let herself sink into the pillow, still a little unsure about how this was supposed to work.   
She had had relationships sure, but not many and none holding longer than three months at that.  
“Come here” Fareeha mumbled, pulling her close to her, on her chest, one arm under her head, the other wrapped around her waist, giving her a soft kiss on the forehead: “Good night.  
“Good night.” Angela whispered, her hand grabbing Fareehas shirt lightly, holding on to it, just in case this wasn’t a dream.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am really really really sorry that its taking me so long to update. I have the story outlined and now how it will end and everything but I just keep getting interupted by other stuff I have to deal with I'm really trying to not keep you waiting for too long. I hope you still like the story I am doing my best


	8. I'll be busy soon enough

Angela woke to the sight of black hair, her hand still entangled in Fareehas shirt, Fareehas arms still around her. Angela nuzzled her face against her chest, listening to her steady heartbeat, breathing with her. Her hands traced the structure of her muscles under the fabric of her shirt, wandering up and down her back. Stretching her arms, she sat up, just to get pulled down by a strong arm wrapping around her, Fareehas eyes were still closed as she mumbled: “Five more minutes.” 

Angela cuddle back into their embrace, her leg wrapping around Fareehas hip, tightening their embrace. Fareeha hummed, a soft, warm sound Angela could never get sick of.  
Her fingers played with Fareehas black hair, playfully tugging at the silky strands, rolling the pearls she had on her braids between her fingers. She felt Fareeha smile against her forehead: “What are you doing?”  
“I have absolutely no idea” Angela let the hair be hair, raising her head a little, smiling at Fareeha being rewarded with a kiss on her nose. 

“I was really scared when Jack told me you had been shot” she whispered, cuddling tight to Fareeha as if she could protect her from what had happened. She felt Fareeha tense up.  
“I barely…” she swallowed, her arms hugging Fareeha tighter: “could do the operation on you-“ her voice faded to a whisper: “I was afraid of losing you before we could talk again. I don’t think-“ her voice trembling she stopped. 

“I’m sorry.” Fareeha whispered, caressing her back. She didn’t know what she could tell her, she couldn’t promise her of it not happening again, after all it was her job to protect people and with that came the risk of getting hurt and if it meant saving someone’s life she would risk getting hurt again. A thought crossed her mind, her chest tightening: “Are you still mad at me?”

Angela raised her head, eyes wide with surprise: “What?”  
Fareeha couldn’t return her gaze in fear of seeing something in her eyes she didn’t want to: “About the fight. The call. I-“Angela interrupted her: “I’m not mad at you” her voice deep with indignation: “I just-“ she stopped, thinking for a second: “I wanted to forget about it” she admitted quietly.

Fareeha felt a sting in her heart. Despite all the affection Angela had shown towards her, they still hadn’t talked about it and she had the urge to do so but didn’t want to worsen it.  
Fareeha broke their embrace, sitting on the edge of her bed, her eyes not leaving Angela, her hands clenched to fists in her lap, struggling with words, Angelas gaze on her: “I was wrong to scream at you, to be jealous of Satya and overall being so overprotective and controlling all the time.” Angela opened her mouth to say something but stopped, not wanting to interrupt Fareeha.  
“I’m not trying to give you some lame excuses. I know, you can take care of yourself. I know, Vaswani is just a friend to you. I know all of that.” 

Fareeha reached out for Angelas hand, Angela entwining their fingers, giving her a reassuring smile, that she wouldn’t jump up and just leave.  
It took Fareeha multiple breaths before she had sorted her thoughts and formed them into words: “I am trying to better myself and I promise you I won’t ever expect of you to do anything you don’t want.”

It took Angela some seconds to reply, Fareehas heart growing heavier with each moment passing, until she said: “I already told you, that it wasn’t okay but to be completely honest, I don’t know what I expected of you.” Fareehas heart dropped, leaving a gaping hole where it once was.  
“I don’t want to end this.” Angela added hastily, seeing as Fareehas eyes darkened with pain: “I don’t want you to change. But-“ she took a moment, carefully choosing her words: “I can’t have fights based on stupid jealousy that’s completely based on nothing.” She smiled faintly: “Although I have to admit that my joke wasn’t chosen wisely.”  
“Still… I’m sorry.” Fareeha mumbled, eyes on their entwined hands, still expecting Angela to let go.

Smiling faintly, Angela crawled towards her, wrapping her arms around her, pulling her back on the bed, Fareehas head leaned against her chest: “We will manage. Let’s agree on not fighting again about stupid?”  
Burying her face in the crease of her neck, Fareeha nodded, taking in the scent of Angela, feeling a weight lifted of her shoulders: “I’ll do my best to avoid that.” She turned, her head now resting in Angelas lap: “But still, Vaswani is way to overprotective about those wings.”  
Angela was tempted to hit her but refrained from doing so, letting her hand stroke through Fareehas dark hair instead: “At some point, the tests will be done.” Fareeha mumbled something, closing her eyes, leaning in, her hands wrapping around Angelas arms.

They stayed like this, Fareeha resting in Angelas arm, occasionally humming with her warm voice, Angela stroking her hair absentmindedly. Both of them were relieved, that the fight was finished, that they talked about it and neither of them carried any more regrets with them. The sun rose high before either of them even thought about moving, both enjoying the presence of the other too much.  
Fareeha, regaining her confidence after fight and injury had thrown her off and both had been dealt with, looked up at Angela, a broad grin across her face. Angela looked down, Fareehas eyes sparkling with new found fire: “What are you up to?” she asked cautiously.

“I really need to take a shower.” Her eyes sparkled the grin on her face turning from mischievous into teasing. Angela knew where this was heading but still couldn’t resist to play along: “Then go”  
“Already on my way.” To her huge disappointment Fareeha sat up and walked right across the room to the bathroom and closed the door behind her. 

Having expected a completely different outcome Angela sat up, indecisively dangling her legs off the bed, playing with the rim of her too huge shirt, listening to the sound of water coming from the bathroom. She could have just gotten up, walked across the room and enter the bathroom but she couldn’t bring herself to be that bold. 

The door opened again, letting out a cloud of steam followed by a completely undressed Fareeha, hair wet, a towel wrapped around her hips. Angela felt heat rising in her cheeks at the sight of little drops glistening on Fareehas skin, rolling down her toned body, getting caught at the rim of her towel.

Walking towards the bed, Fareeha came towards Angela, a light smile on her face: “I forgot something.”  
“I could have broug-“ Angela offered but was interrupted by Fareeha, leaning towards her, lifting her up: “Got it.” She chuckled, carrying her across the room and into the steamy bathroom.

The air was hot, filled with the steam of the shower. Angela shivered at the feeling of her naked feet touching the cold floor, her eyes trying to find anything to look at but not stare at Fareeha. Fareehas hands slipped under her shirt, pulling it up and over her head, leaving her standing only in her panties, giving her a soft kiss. Angela hesitated a second before removing her underwear, getting pulled under the shower by Fareeha. The hot water relaxing her, she leaned against her love, her arms wrapping around her, closing her eyes, enjoying the feeling of their skin touching. 

Holding her tight, Fareehas fingers brushed through Angelas wet hair, pulling it out of her face, letting her chin rest on her head: “You are so tiny.” She chuckled, receiving a hum from Angela, her hands rubbing Angelas back, her skin warm and soft under her touch.

Angela shuddered as Fareehas hands brushed over the part where her wings would be attached. She still missed the feeling of them but wouldn’t tell her about it, not wanting to risk her fighting with Satya again. A cut on Fareehas back distracted her thoughts, her fingers tracing down a long, small scar on her skin. She leaned back a bit, her eyes skimming Fareehas body, tracing every scar the years had left on her, some pale, the colour of copper, others dark. 

Her fingers wandered across three bullet scars next to Fareehas heart: “Where did you get these?”  
“Dakhla. Defending the water supply from a band of omnics.”  
Her hand wandered across Fareehas chest, tracing a long, thin scar under her left breast: “And this?”  
“Knife fight in the streets of Alexandria. Not my proudest moment.”  
“You know how to handle a knife?” Angela couldn’t help but sound a bit surprised. For her Fareeha was something between the little girl and teenager she knew and the flying protector with the rocket launcher who joined Overwatch.

“I am a trained soldier. I can handle more weapons than just a rocket launcher” Fareehas voice got deep, reminding Angela of her mother, when she talked about the time before Overwatch.  
Her hands continue to wander across Fareehas body, freezing above the remnants of the burning Angela had fixed herself.

“Got that after my love fixed me up.” Fareeha whispered lovingly, feeling Angelas fingertips tremble at the touch of her most recent scar, pulling her in to stop her from looking at her scarred body. She had no issues with it, each scar showing one more success of saving lives, making her the warrior and protector she wanted to be, but it pained her seeing Angela hurting over every injury she had ever sustained. 

“You can’t heal the world on your own.” Fareeha whispered, closing her in her arms, letting the water wash over them: “And you already are doing more than most people could even dream of. Don’t worry your pretty head all the time and let us enjoy this.”  
“You may be right” Angela admitted, smiling a little.  
“I am always right!”  
Angela rested her head on Fareehas chest, mumbling a little thank you, feeling Fareeha smile, finally letting herself enjoy the hot shower with her. 

They stood like that, letting the water wash over them, cuddled against each other. They only broke apart for Fareeha to get the shampoo, washing Angela, her hands caressing her skin, sliding over the curves of her body, covering her in white bubbles, making her laugh as Fareeha formed her hair to two horns. “Look at that Angel becoming a demon” Fareeha commented before ruffling her hair, spiking it. Angela felt warm and safe, the deep dark thoughts where pushed into the back of her mind, locked away for now, her hands playing with the foam on Fareehas skin, painting circles and spirals against the dark glistening of the water on Fareehas body. 

A thought crossed her mind. Tiptoeing she reached for Fareehas tattoo, her thumb rubbing over it, trying to remove the paint.  
“What are you doing?” Fareeha laughed, catching her wrist in her hand, pulling it away from her face.  
“I wanted to see if it was very good paint or a tattoo”  
“After nearly two months you just wonder that now?” Fareeha chuckled.  
“Kinda”  
Fareeha shook her head in disbelieve, slowly changing their position, bringing the wall into Angelas back, gently pushing her against it: “You are so weird” she whispered, kissing her, letting go of her wrist, cupping her face.

It took them nearly an hour before they left the bathroom again, Angela feeling better rested and happier than she had in days. It was already past midday before they had managed not only to leave the bathroom but get fully dressed, get Fareeha to stop lifting her up to annoy her and stop Angela from hugging Fareeha when she let her down again, and finally get out of the room to get on with their day. 

“I’ll be off to training then if you need anything” Fareeha said, bending down, kissing her forehead: “Or just want to see how amazingly strong I am.” Angela couldn’t help but chuckle about that: “Don’t strain yourself. You are still recovering.”  
“Am not.” Was the last thing Fareeha said, waving, before she went off the floor to the training halls.  
Angela stretched her arms above her head, a smile on her face, entering her laboratory. 

She really needed to clean it up. It was not dirty but she had trouble setting one foot in front of the other along her spread documents, books and new magazines she had collected in the past weeks. She knew she needed to organize all of this at some point and she had enough room in her shelves for everything but to be honest nobody needed shelves if you read the stuff that’s supposed to go in there near to every day. 

But today was a good day, for her and for her books, so she decided on cleaning up her mess, sorting the books and magazines after topic, putting them on their assigned place, filing all her documents and even numbering and labelling them with colourful sticky notes. 

A little light on her desk attracted her attention. Her holocom showed a little message signalling a new update. She skipped it, a thought crossing her mind, making her smile. Taking a look around the room, she found what she was looking for. A small speaker was attached to her computer and it took her only minutes to disconnect it and reconnect it to her holocom. 

The first tunes were soft and melodic, filling the otherwise cold air of her laboratory with colours and pictures, before the beat turned up. It was a relaxing, comfortingly normal task to sort the rest of her stuff, giving her a grip on reality in her job, calming her, satisfying her need for normality.  
She bit her lip, glancing at the locked door, the song that was playing was turning up to its climax, it was one of her favourites. 

Tapping her foot, she put some more books next to their brothers and sisters, closing a folder with sorted files, twirling around, putting it next to a row of other folders with the same topic. It didn’t take her long until she flew around her room, dancing to the music, twirling, making little jumps, a broad smile on her face. 

The laboratory was cleaned in no time with the music in her ears, leaving her dancing in the middle of the room, her lab coat twirling around her, with every clap her smile grew wider, her eyes sparkling with new found spirit. 

The remaining articles Jack had send her were read in no time, a report written and send and some research done on the nanobot prototype Satya and she had been working on, all while tapping her foot to the songs, mouthing the lyrics to her favourite parts. It had been ages since she last had turned on some music to her work. No wonder she had had troubles with her life before if it only consisted of work and sleep. In her current cheerful state of mind, she realized, that she had missed Overwatch, hard and trying as the work may be she was glad that Fareeha had brought her back.

A quick glance at the clock told her, that it was evening already. She bet Fareeha was still training even though she knew she shouldn’t. Still riding on her wave of good spirit, Angela got up, leaving her lab coat over her chair, making a quick detour for her room, switching her blouse and pants for some more sporty wear in black. She hadn’t been really training for what felt like ages and decided that a brush up on self-defence could only do her good and maybe she could even spare with Fareeha. 

The training rooms where filled with the sound of a deep, resonating beat, dump sounds of people smashing their hands into leather, the beeping of computer assessments of movement and the over all hovering scent of sweat. It was less rooms than a large hall going over two floors with adjoined rooms. The main hall being dominated by sparing rings which could be viewed from a gallery around the wall. Angela got some looks from a couple of people. None of which she knew. Some old Overwatch agents had joined their ranks, recognizing her, greeting her. 

Stepping to the rail of the gallery, she looked down, skimming over the training rings, searching for Fareeha. 

She found her, sparring with a pink haired woman a head taller than her, a ring of bystanders watching them, cheering for either side. Angela couldn’t help but admire Fareehas muscles moving under her skin with each movement, her body in a deadly dance with the other woman, circling each other, hands raised in a defensive position, head low between their shoulders.

Angela made her way down the stairs only to arrive at the ring to witness the pink haired woman smashing Fareeha down to the floor: “Ready to give up?”  
“Not a chance” Fareeha grunted, turning, wrapping her legs around her neck, wrestling her down with a quick movement, now on top, her fist stopping inches in front of her face.  
They held that position a few seconds, before they got up, Fareeha offering a hand, pulling the other woman up which seemed like a remarkable effort considering she seemed to consist only of muscles. 

The crowd cheering, Angela indifferent to as she was impressed or annoyed that Fareeha ignored her doctors’ orders so thoroughly waiting for the two of them to get out of the ring, she mustered the other woman. She couldn’t remember her from one of the meetings but they had grown so remarkably much in the last two weeks that she just stopped trying to remember every face. 

 

Fareeha had spotted her in the crowd, coming towards her, wiping the sweat of with a towel: “Hey.” She smiled at her: “Enjoyed the show?”  
“It is impressive” Angela admitted, giving Fareeha a disapproving glance: “But you are overexerting yourself in your current state.”  
“I told you I am fine” Fareeha said, rolling her eyes, taking in Angelas appearance: “Here to get some training yourself?”  
“Thought I’d brush up on my self-defence skills a little.” Angela crossed her arms: “Hoped you would be able to help me with that but I won’t support you doing one more second of training, neither as your doctor, nor as your- “ she stopped herself there. It was probably best to first tell Ana before anybody else than them told her.

“I am still fit and I am not doing my usual training regime.” Fareeha said: “I am taking it as slow as possible.”  
“Not slow enough” Angela grumbled, looking for someone else she could train with. She didn’t know most of the people here and wasn’t very font of training with a stranger although she would if it came down to it: “Who was that woman?” 

“Aleksandra, Russia send her over to help with Talon. They had an encounter with them recently and ensured Overwatch help in bringing Talon down.” Fareeha smirked: “I like her. My type of woman.”  
Seeing Angelas gaze she ruffled her hair, messing up her ponytail: “Not my favourite kind though.”  
Her eyes lit up: “You could ask her to train with you? I’m sure she won’t mind.”  
“She doesn’t look the type to help with training that starts somewhere around zero.”

“Are you in need of personal training?” Aleksandra had come up to them: “I apologize. I overheard your conversation.”  
Angela eyed the other woman. With Fareeha already a head taller than her Aleksandra was enormous. Not as tall or broad as Reinhardt though: “I need to renew my self-defence skill a little and could use some help with that.” Angela admitted, nodding, offering her hand; “I’m Angela Ziegler, First-Medic to Overwatch. Nice to meet you.” Aleksandra took the offered hand, giving her a firm handshake: “Aleksandra Zaryanova” 

They chose a smaller room, the floor covered in soft mats, only four other people training in here.  
“Where do you want to start?” Aleksandra asked, crossing her arms, giving Angela a testing look. With her height and weight, she wouldn’t have much of a chance winning any strength based fight and once wrestled down she would have a hard time freeing herself from it, but with the right training she would not come in a situation like that. The question was how much she could do and what she had learned.

“Come at me and I will see what I remember?”, Angela suggested. “Alright.” Aleksandra shrugged. She would need to hold back since she didn’t want to hit her full force but she wasn’t keen on underestimating anyone in Overwatch. She had learned her lesson in the fight with Fareeha.  
“Ready?”

Angela nodded, taking a defensive position, arms raised to her head, legs spread for a safe stand.  
Aleksandras first hit was slow, but powerful, Angela taking a step to the site, evading the punch, evaluating her opponent like Reinhard had taught her to do so long ago.  
If she would get a direct hit it would mean a loss. She hadn’t the muscles to protect her from the force of it and even in battle her armour wouldn’t do her much good in such a case, being built for quick manoeuvres.

She saw the next punch coming, a little faster, aimed at her lower ribcage. Her training kicked in, her hands finding the spots, grabbing Aleksandras arm, turning it, using her movement and force against her, forcing her to lose her footing. Aleksandra caught herself mid fall, doing a fast turn, sweeping Angela off her legs.

Catching herself in her fall, Angela rolled over to evade another punch. She needed to get up or this was lost. Struggling with the movement, her muscles ached at the strain she put them under after years of neglect as she came to her feet again, only barely dodging the next attack. Her breath got faster as she struggled to keep her head clear and her thoughts calm. 

She knew Aleksandra held back but at her momentary condition it was for the best. She managed to evade five more attacks and dodged a couple more before she sank to the ground, breathing heavy, sweat glistening on her skin. “For somebody who hasn’t been in the field for years you are in really good shape.” Aleksandra commented, offering her a hand to pull her up.  
“A couple of hours more and some regular training and you will be back in no time.”

Fareeha came up to them, a small smile on her lips: “I can help with that.”  
Angela was too busy catching her breath to tell Fareeha to lay low until she gave her the okay and settled for a short glare in her general direction. “I can help with your training if you wish.”  
Angela raised a hand: “I’ll be fine. Thank you.”

“If you change your mind, you’ll find me here most likely” Aleksandra gave them a quick wave: “Have a good night.” And with that she was gone.  
Angela slumped back to the ground, her breath only calming slowly.

“I wasn’t aware that you were that fit with defensive techniques.” Fareeha sat down next to her.  
“Jack forced everyone to take basic self-defence classes in case we ever get caught alone or without out weapons. Weren’t you part of that?”  
“I faintly remember something”, Fareeha chuckled, waiting for Angela to catch her breath, before pulling her up with her: “Think you will be fit in three weeks’ time?”

Angela shrugged, a smile on her lips: “I hope so. If not, you will just need to protect me.” Fareehas eyes grew dark: “That’s not even remotely funny. I don’t want you to get hurt.”  
“As do I” Angela tiptoed, a quick glance making sure the room was empty, kissing Fareehas forehead: “But we both work with Overwatch and as that, as you told me, it will happen.”  
Fareeha sighted: “Just make sure you are taking every precaution you can. Please?”  
“Yes ma’am” Angela joked, finally bringing Fareeha to smile again, returning her kiss quickly.

“Let’s get a shower and go to bed.” Angela nodded following Fareeha out of the training halls, back to Fareehas quarters.  
“By the way” Fareeha turned as the door to her rooms had closed behind them: “tomorrow we are telling my mother about us.”

“Excuse me?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yay I'm back and all motivated to write so keep tuned for more chapters :3 It may happen that I start other stories but I'll prioritise this one :3  
> Have a great month <3


	9. Back in action!

To say that Angela dreaded the next day was a giant understatement. Angela was horrified. If Ana had been protective of her daughter in the old days who knew how she would be now with multiple near-death experiences, a disappearance for years and her daughter a trained soldier who just recently avoided death by seconds.

Angela was completely convinced that she wouldn’t survive the day, but Fareeha had stayed adamant, repeating over and over again that she didn’t want to keep their relationship a secret because her mother didn’t know. Any other reason would go but not the lack of knowledge of her own mother.

Angela was close to begging as Fareeha emerged in a cloud of steam from the bathroom. She had woken up early, taking a cold shower to calm herself, walked to her room for clean clothes and back before Fareeha even had stood up. Since then she had been pacing up and down the room, starring at the poster of Reinhard for what seemed to her like hours before she went back to pacing.

“What exactly do you think will happen?” Fareeha asked, a mixture of amusement and annoyance.  
“The best outcome I can think of is a direct kill?” Angela was only half joking.   
If Ana was willing to shoot people who burst into her room unannounced she wasn’t completely sure she wouldn’t just shoot her.

Fareeha sat down on her bed, tying her shoes, her eyes following Angela walking up and down the room: “You planning on walking until you walked through the floor?”  
“Would be better than everything else~”  
Fareeha had finished with her shoes, stood up and forced Angela to stop pacing by taking her hands in her own: “Calm down. Everything will be fine.”  
A grin crossed her face: “If everything fails I will jump in front of you catching every bullet that might come at you.” She chuckled at Angelas face getting even paler than before: “Don’t worry. Nothing of the sorts will happen.”  
“Sure” Angela mumbled, letting Fareeha pull her out of the room, along the hallways and to the wing of the old guard.

By the time they had reached Anas door, Angela had forsaken every hope of surviving this day and was just waiting for the final blow. Somewhere in the back of her mind she was aware how over dramatic she was but her respect and slight fear of Ana pushed that thought in the farthest region of her brain only to run wild with scenarios of her untimely death. 

Fareeha knocked on the door, giving Angelas hand a supporting squeeze.  
It took Ana a few seconds to get to the door, a surprised look on her face as she saw Fareeha and Angela in front of her door: “Is everything alright? Has your injury opened again?” she asked, opening the door to let them in. “I’m fine mother.” Fareeha answered, closing the door behind them, leaving Angela standing in the room, looking a little lost.

Angelas eyes searched the room for anything she could use to distract herself from the impending doom. The room was filled with shelves on which the most diverse objects were sorted she had ever seen. Next to books were a couple of old photos. She remembered one of them being taken. They were such a small team back then. A broken scope lay on a small pedestal, why ever someone would want to keep that, next to her old cap.

It was a wild assembly but Angela was sure everything had its meaning to Ana and its own story.   
“So, what do I owe the pleasure of such an early visit?” Ana asked, pointing to a couch that dominated a corner of the room, sitting down on a chair she pulled up to them, as they sat down.

Angela felt her heartbeat increase, praying that Fareeha would not require her to speak.  
Fareeha smiled, her hand taking Angelas, entangling their fingers, lifting them up as if to show off that they were holding hands: “We are together.”

Blood rushed to Angelas cheeks, painting them deep red. Straight to the point as expected. Her free hand clenched around the edge of the couch, waiting for Ana to say something.  
The silence seemed to last forever before Ana raised her voice: “For how long?”  
“Somewhat after the first meeting about Talons movement.”   
“Figured as much” Ana mumbled, Angelas eyes shooting up in surprise, staring at Ana.

“What did you think, Doctor Ziegler? That I am completely blind to my daughter’s life?”  
“No- I… It’s just-“ Angela stuttered.  
“Oh relax.” Ana said, a small smile lighting up her eyes: “Fareeha had had a crush on you since she first met you. It was a matter of time.”   
“MOM!” Angela looked at Fareeha in surprise, Fareehas dark skin turning deep red: “You did?”  
Fareeha mumbled something incoherent, shooting darts out of her eyes in the direction of her mother.

“Oh yes she had. It was adorable.” Ana leaned back in her chair, her eyes lost in memories: “Back then of course I thought or more like hoped, she would never follow the path of a soldier” she shrugged: “and as that she wouldn’t have joined Overwatch and the crush would always remain exactly that. A stupid hope, looking back. With her roots of a soldier family she hadn’t had much choice but to follow in their path.”

Angela felt a weight being lifted of her shoulders. Ana was surprisingly fine with them and seemed to be even more comfortable with it.  
“Thinking of it, I am lucky she chose you and not Jesse. The two of them were inseparable-“  
“MOM!” Fareeha interrupted her, pulling Angela up with her.  
“Okay, great talk thanks for your support bye now.” She said hastily, pulling Angela towards the door, her face still deep red. 

“One second” Ana got up, coming towards them.   
“Mother I swear if you start one more childhood story-“  
“That’s not it.” Ana stopped in front of them, examining them both: “This job is not made for love or relationships.” She nodded at their entwined hands: “I tried to raise a daughter and even with my best I don’t think I did a very good job.”  
“Mom-“ Fareeha started but got silenced by Anas hand: “Make sure, that you make each other happy and cherish every day. You don’t know how many of them you have left. Not with what is happening in the world.”

They nodded, both stunned by Anas sincere voice. A smile appeared on Anas lips, releasing the tension: “And now go on and stop sneaking around. I’m sure they are at least suspecting something.”  
Angela wanted to reply but Fareeha pulled her out of the room, the door shutting to a smiling Ana, true happiness filling her eyes.

“That was surprisingly positive.” Angela said, still getting pulled through the floors in direction of the canteen by Fareeha.   
“That was more embarrassing than everything I could have imagined.” Fareeha mumbled, her face slowly turning its normal dark colour.  
“You really had a crush on me?” Angela asked, only barely suppressing her chuckle.

“I am not talking about that” Fareeha said as they entered the room, making their way to the buffet, eyes following them, accompanied by some murmurs.  
“But did you?” Angela asked again, filling her plate with eggs and toast, watching Fareeha hoarding bacon on her eggs. The thought of young Fareeha crushing on her was adorable and made her love her even more.

“Yes, I did.” Fareeha finally admitted as they had found a place on a table and Angela didn’t stop nagging her. Starting to eat their breakfast, Fareeha gave Angela a cup of coffee she had almost forgotten at the buffet.  
“I even drew you a valentine card.”  
“I remember that one. It was very cute.”   
Fareeha gave her a glare: “It was perfect and the best thing I ever crafted. You thanked me and said I was like a little sister to you. I was heartbroken.”  
Angela had to put down her coffee: “I am so sorry I had no idea.”  
Fareeha shrugged, shovelling bacon into her mouth: “Doesn’t matter. The next day I asked you if you would be my girlfriend if I would be strong and very cool. You said maybe…*” she swallowed, turning to look at Angela: “That was the moment I decided to join Overwatch or to do anything I could until I could ask you to become my girlfriend.”

Angela blushed: “That is – I mean” she looked down at her plate, searching for the right words.  
“It’s not like it had made any difference.” Fareeha said through a mouth full of eggs: “I was what, 10 and you 15? That would have been an interesting relationship.” She swallowed, picking up more bacon: “By the time our 5 year age gap had made no difference anymore, I was already enlisted in the army and Overwatch had other things to struggle with so no harm done-“

Angela still didn’t know what to say. She felt sorry for the young Fareeha feeling so strongly about her but if she had known she doubted that it had made much of a difference anyway.  
“Stop starring your eggs to death”, Fareeha chuckled, ruffling Angelas hair: “It’s been what, 20 years? And I finally got the girl so eat and let us enjoy this.” She groaned: “Before Missy here joins the party.”

“Heard the two of you decided not to hide anymore?” Lena sat down with a tablet of her own, followed by Satya. “Congratz!”  
Satya gave Angela a look: “I assume you had the mother talk?”  
Angela nodded, paling a little at the notion, even if it had been not even close to what she had feared: “Wasn’t as bad as expected.” “For you-“ Fareeha added, emptying her plate, leaning back.  
Lenas questioning looks and Satyas smug grin were thoroughly ignored by Fareeha and Angela decided that her coffee was too important to be ignored and could not under any circumstances get cold.

“If the two of you got your love live together, I would like to send Angela flying today and-“ Satya paused a second: “for the safety of her I would appreciate it, if you could keep her in the air. Just in case.”  
Fareehas eyes widened a little bit, darkened with concern: “Are you sure the wings are up to it?” Angela tended to agree with her. Sure, she had been flying with the old pair and yes, she had made progress in the use of the wings but flying still sounded like a big thing to her.

“The wings were up to it from the beginning.” Satya snapped, not pleased that Fareeha doubted her genius: “It’s the stress on the pilot I am worried about and you should be too.”  
“Can we maybe start with hovering?” Angela interrupted before this turned into another fight: “I should be able to handle that.”  
“I believe hovering will be more difficult than flying but you need to learn, so learn how you want.” Satya shrugged: “I think we should keep someone who can fly too around to keep you safe nonetheless.”

All discussions Fareeha tried to fight were lost by Satyas determination and Angelas curiousity. Even though Fareeha saw Angela shiver from time to time she couldn’t talk her out of it.  
After what seemed like hours Fareeha returned to the training hall, fully dressed in her Rapotrian Suit, a little uneasy about Angela flying.  
She remembered her clearly, soaring through the skies in the practices they had, Fareeha on the side-lines, doing her homework but mainly focusing on the soaring Angel, Jack barking commands while the team did their best to follow them. 

“Took you long enough” Satya greeted her as she walked through the door, her head bowed between Angelas shoulders, fasting some screws and doing god knew what.  
“You better make sure my angel doesn’t fall out of the sky” Fareeha snarled, still not pleased with any of this.  
“Thank you for your confidence in my flying skills”  
Her eyes shot up: “I didn’t mean to-“ She met Angelas sparkling blue gaze, smiling at her: “don’t tease me” Fareeha pleaded, placing her helmet on a stool standing around, walking up to her: “I am really worried something might happen.”  
“And even if it does, you’ll catch me” Angela smiled, but Fareeha still noticed her hands trembling slightly.

Taking Angelas hands in hers, she pulled them up to her face, placing a soft kiss on her shaking fingers: “Just promise to say something the moment something feels off.”  
“I promise” Angela smiled, the trembling slowly subsiding, a little colour returning to her cheeks.

“If you two lovebirds are done” Satya looked up, stepping away from Angelas wings: “I am done with my last checkups and we could start.”   
“Feel ready?” Fareeha whispered, brushing a strand of golden hair away from Angelas flustered cheeks. Her pale skin had changed from a deadly white to a flushed red within minutes.  
“No, but I really want to try.”  
“That’s a yes I take it” Satya sat down on her table, opening a holopad showing divers Lines and numbers monitoring not only the wings functions but Angelas life signs too.   
“Amari get up in the air. Not more than three meters I want Angela to come to you for a start.”

“Thank you. You’re welcome” Fareeha whispered, finally bringing Angela to chuckle. “See you in the air” she said, ignoring her helmet on the table, taking two quick steps before taking a jump and letting her jets lift her up, keeping her steady, hovering exactly three meters above the ground.

Angela shifted her weight from one foot to the other, looking up at Fareeha in the air, spreading her wings testing, stretching her feathers one by one. She knew how they worked. She had learned how to navigate them. She remembered how to fly with the old wings, how to start and land and turn around. But the feeling of the wings attached to her back was something else. It wasn’t the machine keeping her in the air anymore, it was her control over them to a degree she still struggled to grasp.

Satya and Fareeha starring at her didn’t help the least.

“If you are not ready we make the test another day.” Satya suggested, twirling a pen between her fingers, watching Angelas heartbeat fluttering like a little bird.  
“I need to get ready for the mission. I’m no help on the ground.”  
“Most of us are on the ground” Satya pointed out, her eyes still pinned to the lines on her monitor.

Angela ignored her, to concerned with her own thoughts about not being able to help, not being able to fly. What if someone got hurt and she couldn’t get to them in time?   
What if someone died because she was too slow on foot. What if -  
“Stop overthinking it” the voice came from above.  
Angela looked up, Fareeha hovering over her, looking down to her: “I’m not-“  
“You are doing your lip biting thing and while I think it is very sexy it won’t help you getting up here.”   
Satya made a light gagging noise, Angela smiled.

Taking a deep breath she spread her wings once again, remembering the feeling of flying and the commands to her old set. She closed her eyes, picturing the feeling of flying again, then opening her eyes again, breathing out, taking a few steps back bevor making a jump start.  
The air rushed through her wings, making her feathers shift, giving her that tingling feeling she got each time she stretched her wings to the full length.

The ground suddenly looked very far away. A small humming sound accompanied by a small gust of wind threw her off her balance, making her tumble a couple of centimetres deeper bevor Fareehas hands grabbed her by her waist and keeping her at the same height: “You know, I would love if your definition of three meters would be the same air regulations have.” 

Angela blinked confused at Fareehas grinning face before looking down, realising she had not flown three meters up but almost all ten to the ceiling.   
Fareeha let go of her waist, hovering at a short distance, watching her carefully as she navigated a little shaky through the air: “A second there I was worried you might just hit the ceiling.”

Angela wanted to answer but instead of words she burst into a happy laugh, her body remembering all the manoeuvres she had learned, shifting her wings with each small gust of air, doing looping’s and twirls and diving to the ground before shooting up again, all while Fareeha on her side.  
It felt so good again. She had forgotten how much fun flying was and how good she had been at it and with the feeling in her wings it was an even more breath-taking experience than it had been before.

The air ruffled her hair, messing up her ponytail, cooling her red cheeks and caressing her feathers. Spreading her arms like a little child playing airplane she soared through the air, wishing they were outside and not in a hall, the rush of happiness leaving her in a state of constant exhilaration, all fears and worries forgotten. Work to be done suddenly seemed very small and enemies to be defeated seemed like little ants compared to the feeling of conquering the skies.

After a couple of minute, Fareeha placed herself on a loop, hanging from the ceiling, still ready to catch Angela if she threatened to fall but mainly watching her becoming the Angel she once was.  
It hadn’t been so long ago when she found the same woman in a completely disorganised and dirty apartment, breaking down and crying at the site of her. It felt good knowing she was able to take part of bringing her angel her smile back, the smile she fell in love with all those years ago.

The sun rose to its high when Satya stood up, a last look on the monitors before shutting them off: “Everything is fine, your heartrate has calmed down and I have other things to repair, prepare and organise.” She stretched her arms, looking up at Fareeha, still sitting in one of the loops: “Make sure she stays in the air, Amari.” “Yes, Vaswani. I am all eyes and arms.” Fareeha answered, waving her hand at Satya, her eyes not leaving Angela. Satya walked to the door before turning around one last time: “Remember to lock up when you leave. I don’t want anybody meddling with those wings for the next weeks. I don’t have the time to calibrate everything again.” And with that she was out of the door and gone.

The closing of the door finally got Angela out of her happy delirium, letting her pilot to the ground, her naked feet touching the ground, her wings still stretched. Breathing heavily: “Where did Satya go?”  
Fareeha landed next to her, her suit clicking as the jets stopped exhausting hot air, cooling down.  
She smiled at the dishevelled Angela next to her, enjoying the look of sheer happiness on her face: “Working on god knows what.” Stepping in front of Angela, she searched for her eyes, finally catching her gaze, the blue of her eyes still clouded by a happy shine: “We have all the time in the world to do whatever we like.” 

Taking Angelas hands in her own, pulling her close with her other she leaned in for a kiss, meeting Angelas soft lips.  
With Fareeha in her suit and herself barefoot Angela had to tiptoe to return the kiss, melting into the touch, Fareehas heat filling her own. Her hand wandered up to Fareehas chest, pulling at the opening of her armour, drawing her even closer, Fareehas hands wandering up her waist in return, her armoured fingers brushing along her wings, making her shudder in anticipation. 

Her lips left Angelas, kissing a soft trail down her cheek, her chin and her neck, resting on her shoulders, nuzzling her face in her hair: “If we do this I don’t think either of us will be able to concentrate on any mission ever again.” She felt Angelas breath against her skin as she chuckled, sneaking her arms around her neck: “You’re probably right” she whispered, closing her eyes to the touch of Fareehas lips on her hot skin again: ”But it will be worthy it” she let herself fall into Fareehas arms, Fareeha following her hinting, lying her down on the ground, climbing over her.

Angela felt her wings spread on the cold ground in her back, the friction sending pleasurable shivers down her spine, Fareehas hand on her cheek warm despite the armour still covering her skin.  
Angelas hands tugged at Fareehas armour, searching for gaps or openings that would promise the removal of said unfriendly metal between them. “It doesn’t work like that” Fareeha whispered, her hands brushing up and down Angelas wings, fingertips tracing the slim, glowing feathers, watching the shivers run down her loves spine.

“Take it off” Angela complained, her voice subsiding to a gasped whisper at Fareehas fingertips brushing her hair away, the gloves discarded on the floor. “I wanted to do this since you first put those on” Fareehas voice was soft, her eyes the colour of melted chocolate tracing the line of Angelas jaw down to her breasts, hidden under her shirt.  
Angelas reply was a mumbled mess, distracted by Fareeha pulling up her shirt over her breasts, revealing a lacy bra covering the soft skin, Fareehas eyes taking on a hungry glow at the sight of the squirming Angela under her.

Somehow Angelas hands found their way into Fareehas hair, pulling her face up to her own, pressing her lips on hers, opening her mouth, tasting Fareeha who was only able to keep herself up by placing her hands to either side of Angelas head, getting down on her elbows, deepening their kiss, closing her eyes.  
Angela was the first to break away, her chest heaving, hands shivering, fingers still entangled in Fareehas hair, eyes locked with her love: “I really do love you.” She whispered, taking in all of Fareehas beautiful face.  
“I love you too.” Fareeha replied, her lips faintly brushing Angelas flustered cheek: “How about I take this suit off and you take off everything else but your wings?”  
“Sounds fair” was all Angela could muster, watching Fareeha get up, opening the buckles and snaps on her chest piece, removing her armour piece by piece, revealing dark skin hidden under, captivating Angelas attention, keeping her from further undressing than removing her shirt.

Capturing Angelas gaze Fareeha gave her a wolfish grin: “Too distracted to keep your end of the bargain?” Removing her shirt, revealing her trained body, Fareeha crawled towards Angela, still sitting on the ground, her eyes pinned on the muscles moving under Fareehas skin, the light drawing shadows the colour of coffee on her body, her shirt forgotten in her hands.  
Reaching her Fareeha pulled the shirt away, carefully pushing her down again, letting her fingers wander across her body and wings, caressing her skin, removing layer after layer of her clothes all while placing sweet kisses on her loves skin.

Shivering with delight under Fareehas touch, Angelas hands wandered up and into her hair, slowly untying her braids, letting the pearls holding them together fall on the ground next to them, watching the dark strands of hair normally held back fall into Fareehas face giving her a wild, untamed look sending hot waves of anticipation through her body. 

Opening Angelas ponytail, letting her blond hair surround her face like rays of sunlight, Fareeha brushed through it, watching every strand of hair fall to the ground before leaning in for a soft kiss.  
Her hands wandering up to her wings once again, carefully brushing over the crease of her neck and the feathers, tracing the rim, feeling them tremble under her touch.

A light gasp escaped Angelas lips as Fareeha turned her whole attention to her wings, only interrupting to kiss her. Her hands caressing her let her positively melt under her, savouring each tingling sensation Fareehas fingertips send through her body. Stretching out her arms she arched her back into Fareehas touch, smiling, her hands brushing over Fareehas arms up to her shoulders, pulling herself up to give her better access to her wings, sending little bolts of tingling sensation through her body.

Taking the hint Fareeha wrapped on arm around Angelas waist, pulling her into her lap, still caressing her wings, watching Angelas finger brush across her bare breasts, tracing her scars, nuzzling close to her. 

“How do the wings feel?” Fareeha whispered softly, hands still playing with the feathers, giving each one special attention. A pleased mumble followed by Angela cuddling up gave her enough response to let her hand slide between her loves legs, finding her wet and ready.   
She slid a finger inside her, followed by a second being rewarded with a moan and a shiver running through Angelas body and extending to the very tips of her wings. 

Sudden desire flushed Angelas body, urging her to spread her legs to give her love a better access all while fumbling with the zipper of Fareehas pants, which proved more difficult due to the distraction provided by Fareehas fingers between her legs and her lips sucking on her neck, leaving small red marks up to her ear. A short pain gifting her the ability to rip the zipper open before hot pleasure shot from her neck through her body, Fareehas teeth buried deep into her soft flesh.

“I need to work tomorrow-“ she gasped, letting her head fall back, presenting her neck to Fareehas hungry lips: “Don’t leave any ma- ah!“ a moan interrupts her, Fareehas fingers twirling inside her, sliding in deeper than before now, sending electric bolts of pleasure up to her breasts, lingering on her skin making her more sensitive to each of Fareehas kisses and love bites.

Eager to return the favour Angela let her fingers slide into the finally opened pants, rubbing against Fareehas hot skin, feeling her getting wetter by the second. Licking her lips, she looked up at Fareeha with a questioning look, climbing out of her lap, Fareehas eyes following her movement, a little disappointed about the sudden withdrawal. Still keeping their eyes locked Angela leaned forward, pushing Fareehas pants down her legs, directing her attention to the gap between Fareehas legs.

Swallowing in anticipation she leaned forward, her lips parting, teasingly licking Fareeha for the first time, tasting her, teasingly sliding up and down, sending shivers of lust through her loves body, before digging in deep, exploring her love, her hands grabbing her loves tights, spreading her legs, leaving her completely open and vulnerable to her eager tongue.

Caught off guard by the sudden surge of dominance by her love, a loud moan escaped Fareehas lips, her hand searching for hold, grabbing one of Angelas wings, gripping it hard, desperately trying to keep up, taking in the sight of the lusty angel between her legs, making her body tremble.  
Her actions resulting in Angela moaning into her, returning to her with even more force, making her eyes roll back, mouth gaping, her other hand entangled in Angelas silky hair, pushing her closer to her forgetting the world around them, only focusing on Angelas lips sucking and kissing, her tongue exploring and pleasing her.

Reducing the otherwise controlled soldier in front of her to a hot moaning mess send Angela to a never experienced high before, her hands wandering up Fareehas tights, grabbing her butt, squeezing it, making her gasp and moan in hazy ecstasy. Angela, feeling the heat building up behind her belly with each scream of pleasure from the goddess in front of her, felt herself growing close to the edge. 

Fareeha felt her control slipping completely away, shamelessly moaning Angelas name, her hand clawing into her hair, needy pushing her face closer to her, legs shivering, bolts of electric pleasure running up her spine. Taking a look at Angela doing her work finally send her over the edge with a surge of heat rolling over her body, arching her back, her hips bucking involuntarily towards her love, forcing her tongue deep inside her.

 

Feeling Fareeha orgasm send Angela shivering with lust and desire, not willing to stop just now, freeing one hand, pushing Fareeha back on her back, rising above her, guiding her hands between her own legs, pushing her fingers inside her, giving her the sweet pleasurable relief she yearned for.  
Still shaking from her own orgasm, her body filled with the aftermath of the heat, it didn’t take Fareeha long to send Angela shivering and exhausted into her arms, shaking from her own orgasm, eyes closed, arms wrapped around her.

Breathing heavily with a sly smile on her face, Angela propped herself up on her arms, watching the woman underneath her still trying to catch her breath, her raven hair messy, strands falling into her face. Fareehas eyes were still a little hazy from the heat and she seemed to have trouble focusing on Angela but when she did a broad smile appeared on her face: “That was – amazing.” She said in between breaths, cupping Angelas cheek while her other hand traced the marks she left on her body: “Though I imagined it differently. I had no idea -” she took a deep breath trying to get her breathing normal again: “that you could be this… demanding.”

“You seemed to like it” Angela tried to defend herself but Fareeha just pulled her into a deep embrace: “like seems to be the understatement of the year” she whispered, placing a soft kiss on her forehead. A little relieved Angela closed her eyes, resting her head on Fareehas bare chest, listening to her quickened heartbeat, breathing in and out with her, enjoying the feeling of Fareehas strong hands around her, protecting her from the world outside this room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *This is based on a comic by riddlemd with permission of the artist  
> http://riddlemd.tumblr.com/post/153090876032/20-years-later-and-god-decided-to-turn-the-tables


	10. Old Wounds

The days flew by, Angela trying to cram as much training with her wings and an occasional training with Aleksandra into her days of working at a cure. Satya and her had made remarkable progress on it and they expected a field test ready model within the next matter of days, hopefully never needing to use it. Not needing to sneak around with Fareeha, while making it easier in general, subdued her to a lot of questions from nosy people, starting with Lena, up to people who congratulated her on seducing the Captains daughter up to a whole parade of stupid jokes.

Some genius had started testing shipping names for them like they had for stars and Pharmercy and Rocket Angel being the least stupid of them. Fareeha decided them all to be hilarious and changed the story of the two of them getting together each couple of days, from a romantic coincidence to a dramatic fight including a dragon – god knew where that one came from.  
Lena had been poking around if the two of the would maybe help her get together with a girl she liked since “the two of you got together besides all difficulties” difficulties meaning Angelas fear-respect mixture of Ana, and Satya was her typical self only now and then commenting on the two of them.

While Fareeha seemed to take a certain joy in the mixture of people congratulating her on “getting the sexy doctor” and having fun messing with them, Angela got tired of the questions. Satya had told her multiple times that people saw the two of them getting together as a sign of the revival of Overwatch and the hope that everything can have a Happy End and so on. Angela just wanted them to stay out of their relationship. She grew nervous enough about the mission and struggled with recurring nightmares about screams and explosions without additional stress.

Fareeha worried about her nightmares, urging her to talk to someone about them, asking her over and over if she was ready to go on a mission but Angela refused to do any of that. They were just nightmares and had no impact on her daily life so why make it a bigger deal than it was. 

“I’m gonna drag you to someone qualified if you don’t go yourself.” Fareeha mumbled, holding a shivering Angela in her arms after she had awoken screaming, waking Fareeha as well. Wrapping the blanked around the two of them Fareeha held her shivering Angel close to her, slowly rocking her back and forth until she fell asleep again. It worried her that the nightmare became worse with each passing day and the day after tomorrow they were supposed to fly to Germany.

She listened to Angelas now calm breathing, her hand grabbing her shirt and letting go of it in little intervals as if she was trying to hold on to something in her sleep. Maybe she should go talk to Reinhardt about this. In terms of knowing Angela longer she should have gone to Jack but she trusted Reinhardt more with sensitive matters. Angelas soft voice interrupted her thoughts, mumbling something, nudging her face against her chest, her eyelids fluttering. She was dreaming again. Hopefully this time something nice. Fareeha let herself slide down again until she was laying on her back, Angela half on top of her, mumbling in her sleep: “Fareeha~” A smile crossed her lips, hugging Angela tight, closing her eyes again, maybe this time for the rest of the night.

Angela was woken by the smell of coffee. Yawning she sat up, trying to orient herself in the too bright room. “Good morning” Fareeha greeted her, showered and dressed, sitting on the edge of the bed, handing her a cup of hot steaming coffee. “What time is it?” she asked, yawning again, taking a sip of the delicious beverage. “About two. I thought I’d wake you and bring you something to eat before our meetup in about an hour?” Fareeha saw it coming so when Angela tried to jump up she already had the coffee cup safe in her left while her right was resting on Angelas shoulder, keeping her sitting on the bed.

“It’s fine I told everybody you had an appointment with, that you needed some rest and surprisingly no one even questioned it.” Angela groaned, sinking back into the pillows. Fareeha was right, she did need the rest with the nightmares and all robbing her off her sleep but she wasn’t willing to sacrifice days of stupid jokes and questions on it: “How much time do I have?” 

“Enough to enjoy this great meal I put together for you” Fareeha smiled, reaching for a tablet, placing it on Angelas lab. It took her a second before she started laughing: “Did you make a smile face out of bacon, eggs and toast?” “Are you criticising my art?” Fareeha pouted with a glistening in her eyes. “I would never do that.” Angela promised with the most serious face she could muster.  
“Okay, well I have to finish cleaning my suit and meet you later at the meetup.” Fareeha kissed her forehead before standing up: “Make sure to eat up and take your time bathing. See you.” And with a wink and a wave she was out the door.

The food was great, and Angela couldn’t help but wonder if either Fareeha was a great cook and she hadn’t known about it or if she had friends in the kitchen. After she was done she decided to take Fareehas advice and just take a long bath, finding the tub already filled with hot, steaming water and a little note to enjoy and relax. It made her heart jump and tingle as she let herself slide into the hot tub Fareeha had prepared for her, feeling the strain of the last week slowly being washed away, her muscles relaxing and her mind finally finding some rest between practice, worries and nightmares.

Reinhardt was already there when she entered the small meeting room, sitting at the table, reading some German newspaper about the candidates for the upcoming election. They all seemed to promise to keep researchers safe and invest in bigger projects and so on. The usual. It just fitted them to jump on the opportunity of those kidnappings. “Angela! How are you” he rumbled in his deep voice, giving her a broad smile: “Better, thank you.” She was sure Fareeha had told him at least that she was stressed if not more. 

Sitting down, Angela nodded at the newspaper: “What’s happening over there?” He pointed at an article: “We need to stop these kidnappings and soon. Talon can’t become world news, or they will just gain in followers. They already gained too much public attention as it is.” She agreed. Besides making sure that researchers and specialists all around the world were safe and secure with their families, it was their job to stop organizations such as Talon to get enough press to become an even bigger threat than they already were. Gladly the mission, they had a few days back, retrieved the kidnapped scientist, who had been under Fareehas care when they got attacked. He seemed fine and was able to confirm what Angela had feared: Talon was working on a nanobot to make super soldiers but for all he knew they hadn’t achieved much. Their top scientist needing help, that’s why they went after experts on that field.

“We can stop them if we can start right now.” Angela turned around, watching Jack walk into the room closely followed by Fareeha. His once even face was now scarred, giving him a dangerous look. He was lucky the wounds hadn’t cost him his eyesight or disfigured him more than leaving two long, broad lines across his face. Thinking of it most of the old guard had been more than lucky with a couple of their battles, some leaving visible scars… and some didn’t.

“Soooo” Fareeha seemed to have followed the dark path Angelas thoughts had turned, sitting down next to her, tugging lightly at Angelas blond ponytail to gain her attention: “we are all here and besides the almost daily briefing you send us” she looked at Jack: “What else do we need to discuss?” “We have a change of plan.”

Angela sat up straight, hearing the shuffling of Reinhardt putting down his newspaper and the clicking of Fareehas pearls as she turned her head to face Jack: “A change of plan? Now? Why?” It made her more than uneasy. She had been studying the city where they were supposed to go, had tried to prepare her for what was to come. This made her careful precautions turn to dust.

“We received information about Talons movements.” Jack activated the holomap, showing Germany and a blinking point in the middle of nowhere next to a cluster of cities: “We think we can find some of their middle man there. They could have the necessary information on what their next steps are.”  
“We already now what their next steps are”, Fareeha raised an eyebrow: “We know from that scientist you brought back who they are targeting next and arrangements are made.”  
“They started to react to our precautions way sooner than we would have anticipated.” 

Angela saw that there was more to it, but Jack was already explaining their new objective: “Beside the place not much changes.” The holomap opened a model of an old mansion, displaying a two-parted house with a large balcony of some sorts and a garden on the roof in a modern style.  
“Reinhardt and I will go in from below while the two of you come in from above. The objective is assumed to be in these rooms” He pointed to a illuminated floor: “We are not sure whether the target is male or female but we will need to get him or her alive. We are supported by a troop of ten of our best men but the two of you will be on their own up there, making sure no kind of flying vehicle being it a helicopter a drone or something else gets away or can land.” 

“Are we expecting a lot of armed resistance?” Reinhardt pointed to the exits on the model: “And who is covering these two?” “Three and Three. Two and we take the front. We know that they have guards guarding these two floors and these windows and exits are secured. That’s why we need to make the break through the front door.”

Angela clenched her fist. In terms of tactical sense, she was not much of a help. She knew the foundries of it but when it came to expertise Jack knew what he was doing. Still, having them barge in through the main door: “Can’t we enter from another side?” she asked, hoping there would be a way begging less for injuries than this one.   
“Not if we want to make sure that nobody leaves the premises without us noticing.” Jack had his explaining tone he had every time Angela tried to find a more peaceful method. She knew that there was no chance in changing his mind.

Jack spend an hour explaining in detail what they already knew. Go in, secure the place, get the middleman and get out of there before Talon knew what had hit them. Somewhere along Jacks explanations Fareehas hand had found hers, unclenching her fist, giving her something to hold on to. Angela hated to admit it but the longer the meeting went on the deeper grew her fear and doubt that she was able to go on that mission. She was convinced that they needed a medic in the field, she just wasn’t sure if she was ready for it. 

“That would be all, except any of you have anything to add?” Jack concluded, taking his time looking around the table. This was it. This was the moment where she should get up and say that she was not ready for this. They would understand. Fareeha would support her, help her find someone to get over this, maybe she could go out in the field again in a year or so, with good care even faster. Right now she just needed to get up and tell him, that she wasn’t ready.  
“If that is all I will expect you tomorrow at 600.”

With that her chance was gone. She got up, following Fareehas and Reinhardts movements, walking through the corridors back to her laboratory, only noticing Fareeha had been following her as she turned to close the door behind her.

“Are you going to be alright?” Fareeha eyed her, standing close in front of her so Angela had no chance of looking just past her if she didn’t step back.   
Angela looked up, her hands searching for something to play with, to distract her, being caught by Fareehas: “Will you be fine for tomorrows mission?”  
“I don’t know” Angela whispered. She felt tears rising in her, but she refused to cry. Crying wouldn’t help her with any of this.  
“Angela” Fareeha guided her to the sofa, which for once wasn’t covered in documents, sitting her down on it, kneeling in front of her: “If you are not ready, if you are afraid, if you don’t have the energy to do this or if you just don’t want to go you can just say you don’t.” her voice was soft. Not angry, not demanding, not forcing her to do anything. Just trying to reassure her of her trust and love, helping her as good as she could. 

“I can’t let you go alone” Angela mumbled, fighting against her tears again: “I can’t let you go on this mission, not knowing if you will return.” “I will return, of course I will” Fareehas hands closed tighter around Angelas, trying to give her the strength she so desperately wanted to give to her.  
“You can’t-“ Angelas voice broke. Her eyes were dark, the otherwise so vibrant blue turned a foggy, grey colour the sky turned on a rainy day.   
She took a shuddering breath before speaking again: “You can’t promise me, that you’ll return.” Fareeha wanted to say something but Angela continued: “Last time I wasn’t there and it nearly cost you your life.”  
“It is not your fault that someone-“  
“I can’t patch you up again. Mercy may be able to do all of this but I can’t.”  
“Angela-“ Fareeha brushed her hair aside, wiping away the tears that had started to roll down her cheek: “You can’t protect me from all the bad in the world. No one can. That’s what Overwatch is for.”  
“I am part of Overwatch. I became Mercy to protect and heal. But-“ Angela started sobbing, big glistening tears running down her cheeks, dropping into her lap painting her lab coat dark: “I joined to protect” she whispered: “but I can’t even protect you. I couldn’t protect Overwatch from falling apart and I can’t protect you” 

“Angela” Fareeha put her hand under her chin, carefully raising it to meet Angelas eyes: “You are at the heart of Overwatch. Always have been, always will be. You pull people in” she smiled: “you pulled me in. You ignite a spark that makes others want to protect, to do good, to heal the world from the bad.” She cupped Angelas cheek, letting her lean in to the touch, her hands grasping around her free hand. “You are doing so much good without even seeing it” Fareeha placed a soft kiss on Angelas hands. 

Angela felt a wall inside her breaking with a loud, earth shattering crash. She stood up, only to sink to the ground, letting herself fall into Fareehas open arms, her warmth surrounding her while she cried, hands searching for hold, grasping Fareehas shirt, pulling on it, holding it tight, her shoulders shaking Fareeha holding her, stroking her back, resting her chin on her shoulder, closing her embrace around her to keep the world away from her fallen angel.   
“I can’t feel like loosing you again” Angela mumbled between sobs, her face still buried against Fareehas chest. “You won’t” Angela mumbled something against her shirt, too quiet for her to understand. “You are not alone.” She rocked her back and forth, waiting for her sobs to quiet down, her tears to subside and for her to finally being able to talk again.

Angela didn’t know how long they stayed like that. Fareeha didn’t let go of her and there was nothing she needed more right now than just sitting here on the ground with her, listening to her heartbeat, calming her. 

“I don’t want this war.” She finally said, her hands resting around Fareehas waist, cuddling tight against her. “Nobody does.”  
“I’m not so sure if Jack doesn’t” Fareeha didn’t reply to that. Everything she could have said wouldn’t help them.  
“Can you go on the mission tomorrow?” It was an honest question. Not blaming her or pushing her. Only wanting to make sure that she was ready for whatever decision she would make.  
Angela took her time answering it. She felt better, stronger, finally having told her about how she felt even if it had been happened not in an adult discussion like she had hoped.  
“Yes. I can.”  
She looked up, managing the first real smile: “Someone needs to look after you.”  
Fareeha smiled but not convinced: “Don’t go on my accord. I need to know that you can handle yourself.”   
“I can-“ “That’s not what I meant. I know you are more than capable.”   
Fareeha leaned against the sofa, pulling Angela in a more comfortable position on her lap: “You can’t run off into danger without being ready. If you have a panic attack or anything like what happened just now-“ Fareeha stopped, not able to think about the possible outcome.

Angela took her time, thinking about this, thinking about going out in the field again and about all that came with it: “I can.”

This night she lay awake, not troubled of fear or nightmares or worries. She remembered this: the calm before the storm. Fareeha had tried to stay awake with her but soon fell asleep, her head resting on Angelas chest, Angelas hands playing with her hair. It was like a fog had lifted of her mind. She wasn’t sure if it would hold forever and after the mission she would get someone to talk with she promised herself. 

It was way past midnight as she fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A short chapter this time. I hope you still enjoyed it


	11. Pasts shadows

It was still dark outside when their alarm went off. Fareeha almost jumped out of the bed, pulling a still half-asleep Angela behind her.  
Her eyes flew open as the cold water hit her, a laughing Fareeha with shampoo in her hair setting the warmth to a more acceptable temperature as Angela started jumping around, cursing in German.

Satya was already up – or still. Angela was afraid to ask judging by the dark rings under her eyes – and gave her the key to where her suit and wings were locked away while Fareeha got them breakfast. The wings seemed lighter than normally but maybe it was the mixture of excitement and adrenalin already rushing through Angelas veins. She was greeted with a sandwich and coffee in the hangar, Fareeha sitting on a crate, tightening some screws on her suit. It had been fixed after her last mission and Torbjörn had made some adjustments, first of all, he made the wings bullet proof or more bullet proof than before. Angela could only pray that it would do its job.

“You could have told me if you needed some help?” Fareeha said, swinging her legs to the ground, setting aside her suit. Angela managed to balance the wings and let them slide to the ground slowly, before answering: “I manage, thank you.” She took a look around, the hangar being slowly filled with life, mechanics working on the jet, technicians calibrating some last things, six out of the ten soldiers who were to accompany them checking their weapons, adjusting straps, helmets and buckles.  
Offering her a sandwich Fareeha leaned back, Angela taking the offering hungrily: “Jack is already somewhere up there shouting as usual and Reinhardt is late.” “Should we worry?” it wasn’t like him to be late to anything. More than super punctual. “Nah” the screwdriver in her hand clicked against her suit as she waved it around: “He is just saying goodbye.” “To whom?” “Ask him yourself” she nodded towards the large gate where Reinhard just came in, already dressed in his complete crusader armour, his huge hammer over his shoulder.

Angela slipped in the body Satya had made from the same material as her trainings top, especially made for her new wings: “I doubt I want to hear the answer judging by that confident smug grin of his.” She closed the zipper, of her suit, slipping on her leg and torso armour, closing the buckles: “I never have seen this smile.”   
Fareeha was already in her suit while Angela still was wearing only half of hers: “I’m sure you have. I know I have too often-“ “Excuse me?” Angela didn’t quite catch the last part, fastening some additional steering help on her torso armour.  
“Forget it - not important.” Fareeha mumbled as Reinhardt approached them: “A glorious morning, don’t you think?!” 

Fareeha answered something while Angela was struggling with her wing attachments. They fitted perfectly but getting them on was a hassle with the extra spine needing to be perfectly aligned with her real one. “Let me help you with that” she hadn’t noticed Fareeha coming up to her until she straightened the artificial spine, letting it attach itself to Angelas back, mounting her wings on the device.  
“Those are your new ones, yes?” Reinhardt asked, watching Angela as she established the link, stretching the wings testing. They seemed to be a bit more sensitive than normal, but it was probably just her excitement: “Yes. Aren’t they gorgeous?”   
“Impressive for sure, I’ll let others decide on matters of beauty.” Reinhardt smiled at her, before turning around: “We should get going, before Jack decides to go alone because we are to slow.”   
Shutting her link down again, not wanting to strain herself before they even arrived at their destination, she followed Reinhardt up the stairs over the small bridge into the jet where Jack was already scolding one of the soldiers for arriving one minute late.

Angela sat down at the end of the long transport vehicle, trying to fit her wings somehow into the confined space. She only realized now that they were a little larger than her old ones. With the old ones she had had never a problem of fitting them anywhere plus with these she was more aware of their presence.   
“Aren’t you forgetting something?” Fareeha asked, tossing her a newer model of her staff and pistol. Catching them she eyed them: “Where did you get them.” “Satya.” Fareeha admitted between clenched teeth. “Thank you”  
The staff was perfectly made, lay perfect in her hands and was lightweight. Satya practically took her old model and matched it to her armour all while getting rid of unnecessary tubes, cramming more efficiency into the small space she got. A small button turned it on with a satisfying little click followed by a siring sound, the golden tip with the nanobots starting to turn, distributing them evenly, getting rid of any cluster they might have built up.   
It was a masterpiece of craftsmanship combined with the understanding of how nanobots worked. This staff would allow her to treat people without needing to inject them directly with the nanobots. At least smaller injuries.

“If you are done admiring the weapon you should already know like an extension of your arm we will be ready for take-off” Jack interrupted her admiration. She shot him an annoyed gaze. Why did he always need to get this tense and demanding before missions. “We’re ready commander.” Fareeha sat down next to Reinhardt, crossing her legs, her rocket launcher to her feet, helmet next to her, winking at Angela: “And I believe Mercy was just making sure she can patch up your ass, sir.”   
Reinhardts laughter rolled through the small cabin as the engines fired up, forcing Jack to sit down next to Mercy, putting his visor on instead of replying to Fareeha besides a grumbled: “Completely like mother like daughter I see.” Which wasn’t heard over the roaring of the engine and the jet taking off.

Angela twisted her hands the whole flight. Her staff to her feet she starred at the golden liquid in its tip, her fingers entangled with each other, only her gloves keeping her from biting her nails. True, she was calmer than yesterday, and she was still sure that she had made the right decision. But this was her first mission in years. All the flight training, practicing with the suit, the shooting range and her occasional self-defence trainings with Aleksandra suddenly seemed insufficient. Fareeha smiled at her every time their gazes met, nodding and winking at her, encouraging her and calming her a little. At least for the time being. 

The second the jet touched ground, Angelas heartbeat fastened, standing up like in trance, noticing Reinhard and Fareeha putting on their helmets. Jack as well as the other soldiers checking their weapons. The doors opened and her feet touched wet ground, a light drizzle going down on them, filling the air with the scent of spring and earth. Angela could hear her blood rush through her veins, filling her ears with a consistent buzz. She almost jumped as someone touched her shoulder, spinning around, ready to defend herself. “Relax, its just me.”, Fareeha looked down on her, past her helmet: “Everything will be fine. Take a deep breath-“ she waited until Angela followed, filling her lungs with the cool air: “Now release and lets go.” She released, her heartbeat calming down, her thoughts slowing, directing their attention to the task at hand. Fareeha grinned at her: “There. Come on or Jack will seriously whoop our asses.” Angela couldn’t help but chuckle, quickly following the other Overwatch agents, making their way from their landing point around a small hill, through the wood towards their point.

“Pharah, Mercy, on your positions.” 76 voice over the holocom sounded hollow. “Acknowledged” Pharah was the first one in the air, Mercy establishing the connection to her wings, a light shiver running through her spine as they unfolded in the rain, the cold breeze brushing through her feathers. She followed, the golden extensions shimmering in the rare sunbeams that broke through the clouds, Pharah waiting for her, making sure that both of them were just below the treetops and with that below the line of sight from the mansion. Mercy saw the agents, led by 76 and Reinhardt quickly making their path through the front door. They would have to wait until they reached the door before they could land on the roof, Angela being an easier target than any of them was comfortable with. “Assuming position” Pharah gave the okay as they reached their hold out point, approximately one hundred meters away from the main entrance, still hidden behind trees. 

“Go”

The jet who had brought them here flew over the hilltop, opening fire on the roof, not damaging but distracting. They couldn’t risk blowing up any of the two buildings. They needed this mission to be a success or they were back to square one. Mercy saw Reinhardt followed by 76 running through the wood, making their way to the front entrance, breaking up into the three pre-assigned groups, covering the two rear exits while Reinhardt and him would cover the front. “Follow me” Pharah voiced, her jets boosting up as an explosion shattered the front door, followed by the sound of guns getting fired, 76 bellowing commands over the intercom. Mercy followed on the heel, listening intensely to the screams and shouts, just in case she was needed down there. She felt the adrenaline kick in, the feeling in her wings intensifying, feeling every little breeze, enabling her to steer a lot more precisely through the air. In the corner of her eye, she saw something move on the roof, the glare of a barrel directing her attention to a person on the roof.   
“PHARAH!” her wings flared up in a golden gleam, pushing her through the air towards Pharah, who turned around to her in, what seemed like, slow motion. Mercy crashed into her, driving the air out of her lung just as she saw the yellow and red flame of a gun being fired, driving Pharah and herself back and down a good ten meters as a bullet shot over them, missing them only by inches.

Pharahs eyes flared up, holding on to her waist a second for Mercy to find her balance again before shooting up, firing her rocket launcher at the roof, the small human vanishing in a cloud of smoke and fire as the rocket exploded. “Enemy contact” was all Mercy heard over the intercom before another rocket crashed down on the roof. Her ears were ringing as she gained height again, a quick glance to Pharah, making sure she was unhurt and in no danger, before she flew over to the roof, staff by her side, her gun ready, waiting for the smoke to clear. The humming of Pharahs jetpack behind her reassured her of not being alone before they advanced into the fog the rockets had whirled up. The smoke cleared, the roof was empty, only a few drops of blood showing that someone had been here and was hit. “Clear” Mercy lowered her pistol, she hated that thing, putting it away, switching to her staff, turning it on. “and now?” she turned to Pharah, her grip tightening. Pharah smiled at her, holding her rocket launcher relaxed in her hands, leaning against a low wall: “Now we wait.”

Mercy remembered this from back in her days. Everybody dashed of, trying to get themselves killed, and she waited somewhere, trying to contain the damage to a minimum. She hated it back then and she hated it now. The only thing worse than this, was being in the middle of the fight, trying to keep everyone alive while having to fire that disgusting gun. The shouts and commands over the intercom making it, most of the time, not better. She started to pace, aware of every single gunshot, every scream and shout, every command over the intercom, only waiting for something to happen. “Stop pacing. They know what they are doing.” Pharah tried to be encouraging and she knew that but still: “Talon does too” she murmured, continuing to pace. The command over the intercom ripped her out of her thoughts: “Three targets coming your way!” Mercy turned around, taking a few steps away from the door leading up to the roof, Pharah doing a jump start, hovering a meter over the ground, rocket launcher ready, eyes pinned at the exit. 

She felt her heart beating in her chest as the door flew open, two men in black stumbling out into the open, one heavily bleeding from his shoulder. He will lose his arm, the doctor inside her deducted, or die if not taken care of soon. “Stand down!” Pharah shouted at them, raising her weapon, pointing it at them. They stopped in their way, Mercys eyes pinned to their face, dirty and covered in blood. Their own and that of their comrades.   
“Step away, boys.”  
She knew that voice and it made her heart drop, a tight pain in her chest. She knew that red hair and that swaying walk like the world would crumble to her feet and bow to her every desire. “I’m dealing with that.” “Stand down or I will shoot!” she heard Pharah shout.   
Dangerous.   
Get away.  
She saw the blazing of the gun before she heard the shot, saw Pharah stumble back, catching her balance, shooting the rocket. The explosion threw her back, tumbling into the air, desperately trying to find her balance and come back, her wings shifting and shivering in a desperate effort to avoid crashing to the ground. A gush of wind came to her help, enabling her to straighten up, hovering over the roof.

Where are they? The black smoke engulfed the entire roof once again. Something blue shot through the cloud, breaking through the screen. Pharah. Unhurt. Thank god.   
But-  
Where was she. Where was that woman?   
Mercy didn’t see it coming, hadn’t even a chance to dodge as she felt all her strength leaving her body, the world turning into a foggy swirl for a second. Suddenly she was plummeting to the ground, not enough energy left to spread her wings and catch herself, the world around her getting black. She heard Pharah call her, heard some voices over the intercom before the world faded to black.

Her eyes flew wide open as she hit the ground, the impact driving out the air of her lungs, the smoke burning in her eyes. She tried to get up, blinking the tears away, her hands reaching for her gun. Through the blur of her tears and black dust she saw someone coming at her. Not her. Please not her. “Dr. Ziegler. How nice to see you again. Especially since we had no idea, where you might be” She found her gun, trying to get up she pointed it at the red-haired woman, her hands trembling too hard to aim, the fired shot missing her opponent by an arms length. “What a hot headed welcome” she grinned. Mercy screamed as she stepped on her arm, taking the gun from her with ease, almost breaking her wrist: “I missed you too.” “Moira” she hissed between clenched teeth, searing pain shooting up from her wrist into her arm. “So we are on first name basis. And here I went and thought after all this time, you would have forgotten me.” Leaning forward, Moiras clawed hand ran over her feathers, sending shivers through them, Mercy writhing under her touch.  
“I see you made some advances on those wings of yours.” She felt someone pushing her down to the ground, a heavy boot between her shoulders: “very nice work indeed. And this staff” Mercy saw her clawed hand pick it up. Fighting against the weight of the boot she felt her blood pulsed through her wrist, Moiras foot still pressing down on it, the boot on her back pressing the air out of her lungs, making it hard to breath.

“Mercy!” she heard 76 calling for her, heard Pharah shout something, heard steps and gunfire and something landing heavily. “Get away from her!” that was Pharah. She couldn’t be here. Moira was dangerous: “Get away-“ It was more of a breathless wince than a warning shout. “Do you really want to do this” Moira sneered: “Back away or I will seriously hurt your little angle.” Angela screamed as pain shot from her wrist through her lower arm, Moira pushing down on it, followed by an ugly crack as it broke, pain pulsing in waves through her arm, the pressure on it leaving, Mercy pulling her hand towards her chest to protect it from more. Every movement send burning flames through her arm, sending tears to her eyes. Her eyes searching for Pharah, trying to send her a message, begging her to leave and bring herself to safety. As her gaze finally found her, her hopes were crushed, Pharahs eyes burning with hate, jaw clenched, death in her eyes. 

“Oho- have I hurt your little angel a little too bad?” Mercy shivered as she felt Moiras clawed hands run down her wings again: “I wonder what I can do with them?” Everything inside her screamed for shutting down the link but, before she could execute that, a stinging pain shot through her shoulders. The world exploded behind her eyes in a red firework. She heard herself scream, heart Pharah shout something. She heard a shot echoing through the air, something heavy going down next to her, the pressure from her back vanishing, something wet and hot splashing against her face. The pain from her wings suddenly subsiding, leaving her panting on the ground, tears running down her face, her wrist close to her chest to protect it from further assault. A hand grabbed her hair, pulling her head back, a long-clawed hand wrapping around her neck, drawing a burning red cut with a long nail on her skin before closing around it, choking her: “Call off your dogs!” Her unhurt hand desperately clawing at it, trying to break free, to breath, her head pounding, the world turning. She needed air and she needed it now or she would faint. “I am not fond of repeating myself: Call of your dogs or I won’t stand for anything that happens to your pretty doctor!” She needed air. Her lungs were burning, screaming for it. Begging for release. “Maybe I didn’t make myself clear-“ the grip around her throat tightened, cutting of every last bit of air…

She must have lost consciousness for a few seconds. Suddenly her vision cleared as the hand vanished from her neck, leaving her coughing and wringing for air on the ground, only to reappear on her wings again. A loud buzzing sound filled the air: “I am a smart girl. I see, when I’m outnumbered. Just let me take this-“ the hand tightened its grip around the base of her left wing. “ANGELA!” she heard Pharah scream as her world turned into a blazing hell, a sharp rip and a crack sounding in her ears as her back burst into a thousand shards, piercing her body, sending sears of burning pain followed by cold stings through her entire body.   
She screamed, her whole body was on fire, every pulse intensifying the pain. Her eyes rolled back, sending her into a black world as she collapsed on the ground, losing consciousness.

She woke up surrounded by warm arms, a blurred face hovering over her, talking with someone. She couldn’t make out the words. Her wrist buzzed, her head seemed to be twice its size and her whole body ached. It took her some time before she could focus on what was going on. “Fa-“ she burst into coughing, her throat hurt as did her lungs as she tried to breath in. “Angela!” Fareeha had taken off her helmet, her face was covered in dust and a bloody scratch on her cheek pointed to the fight they had had: “How are you feeling?” “Everything hurts-“ she closed her eyes, trying to keep the world from spinning. “What hurts? Anything broken aside from your wrist? Talk to me!” she could hear the panic in Fareehas voice: “Nothing broken” she coughed again, raising her hand before her eyes to check for blood. Nothing, so hopefully her lung was fine too: “I think I’ll be alright.” “Thank god” she felt Fareehas lips touch her hair, leaving a kiss, before she tightened her embrace a little. Careful not to hurt her but tight enough to never let her go.

“Help me sit up?” Fareeha did as asked, supporting her back, as she slowly tried to sit, the world shortly turning to black, making her sink against Fareehas arms, before she sat up. “Please don’t faint on me again-“ she mumbled. It sounded like she was close to crying. Angela hadn’t seen her really cry since the last time she got shot down but now tears started rolling down her face: “I’ll be fine. Don’t cry-“ she whispered, trying to wipe away the tears with her unhurt hand, hoping to wipe away the pain she saw in her loves eyes. “I’m not crying” Fareeha wiped away the tears, closing her arms around her once again, Angela thankfully leaning against them. As sure of herself as she may have sounded, she halfway expected to faint again as soon as the adrenaline left her body, leaving her to remember and realize what exactly happened after Moira had broken her wrist.   
“Did we get-“ she searched for words, her mind still fogged. “Not her. But two of their agents.” Fareeha nodded to the other side of the jet, Angela leaning her head against her shoulder, too dizzy to turn and look: “That’s good…” she felt her head grow heavy: “I’ll sleep… for a… bit” she mumbled, leaning against Fareeha, closing her eyes, drifting off again, the buzzing of the jet weighing her into sleep.

A bright light woke her. She opened her eyes, a white ceiling and an unforgiving light starring down on her. A groan escaped her throat as she turned her head, feeling a little dizzy, probably under the influence of some drugs. Raising her hand to her face she found it bandaged, the wrist in a cast. The pain came in small waves but was bearable. Her eyes searched the room, trying to find a clue to how she got here and what had happened. Her searching gaze came to rest and a blurry figure in a chair. Rubbing her eyes her vision cleared up, revealing a sleeping Fareeha, her hair a mess, dressed in a simple shirt and jeans, a crumbled piece of paper in her hand.   
Stretching her hand she reached out to her, her fingertips brushing faintly against the back of her hand. Fareehas eyes flew open, grabbing her wrist, eyes filled with anger, before realising where she was, her frown turning into a relieved, soft smile: “Angela. You’re awake-“ A quick step and Angela found herself in a deep embrace, Fareeha pressing her to her chest, resting her chin on Angelas shoulder, her body slightly trembling. She smelled like coffee and rain. “Fareeha?” weakly returning the hug, her hurt arm shaking a little: “Are you hurt?” She felt Fareeha shaking her head, holding on a little tighter, her shoulders still shaking lightly. Her eyes widened slightly as she realized that Fareeha was crying. 

Nuzzling her face against her chest, Angela hugged Fareeha as tight as she was able to: “I’m here. It’s alright.” She felt Fareeha taking a couple of deep breaths before she slowly drew back, pulling the chair up to the bed. Her eyes were red, traces of old tears glistening on her cheeks. Angela carefully traced the already healed cut on Fareehas cheeks, faintly remembering seeing it after their mission: “How long was I out?” “Almost three days-“ Fareehas voice was hoarse, visibly fighting against crying again: “We debriefed as soon as we got here and Jack is in charge of the information gathering from the agents.” A cold shiver ran down Angelas spine. She didn’t like the sound of that. “How much did you sleep?” “Enough” Fareeha averted her eyes, giving Angela a vague idea what enough meant. 

Cupping Angelas cheek, Fareeha brushed her golden, dishevelled hair out of her face, two big blue eyes looking up at her. The last three days had been more than hard on her, every minute awake worrying about Angela, every minute asleep plagued by nightmares. She felt like she kind of understood, what her Angel must have felt like, when she was shot down- with the difference of Angela knowing what to look for in a patient and Fareehas only possibly way of knowing how she was, was listening to doctors she didn’t know. “I was really worried-“ she whispered, locking their gazes, Angelas light blue eyes softening: “I’m sorry.” Shaking her head, she tried a weak smile, relieve slowly filling her chest, replacing the dark pain and fear that had nested in there: “I’m sorry. I promised to protect you out there… on your first mission in years… and I-“ she swallowed hard, her fingertips brushing over Angelas soft skin, the warmth she felt banishing the last dark extensions of the fear of never seeing her again: “I failed.”

“You didn’t fail!” Angela sat up, wincing a little at the dizziness the sudden movement came with. Fareeha looked at her through dark strands of hair that fell into her face, eyes filled with disbelieve and something like guilt, but much darker. Angela took a moment, weighting her words, considering, how to say, what she wanted to say: “Listen-“ she started, a little hesitant, her healthy hand entwining with Fareehas: “We both knew, what we were getting into, when we joined Overwatch.” Fareehas eyes darkened, turning almost black. Angela searching for the right words: “But we do it for a safer world.” She saw, that Fareeha wasn’t convinced in the slightest. “Plus, I am alive. And aside from this-“, she raised her bandaged wrist: “You did a good job, of protecting me.” Fareeha scoffed, but a small smile appeared on her face: “So not an A but I can settle for a B?” “How about an A-?” Angela grinned at her, glad at the sound of Fareeha chuckling. 

A sharp pain in her wrist making Angela wince as she absentmindedly shifted her weight onto it. “Careful!” Fareeha took her wrist in her hands, placing a soft kiss on the caste, caressing her fingers. “Thank you, Dr. Amari.”, Angela grinned, ignoring Fareehas sour look: “You should get some rest” her voice grew soft as she reached with her free hand for her loves face, brushing away the raven streaks of hair, cupping her cheek. Leaning in to the touch, Fareeha closed her eyes, allowing herself a moment of vulnerability, tears running down her face, dripping onto the soft bedsheets. Carefully wiping away the glistening drops, Angela leaned forward, her lips finding Fareehas, pulling her into a soft kiss. She tasted like coffee and something sweet, inviting Angela to explore her lips before opening up to her, leaving her to explore even more. Her hands found their way into Angelas blond hair, pulling her closer, deepening their kiss. Angelas heartbeat quickened as Fareeha pulled her close, hands in her hair, arm around her waist. A passionate, desperate kiss, leaving her lightheaded and completely happy.

Breaking apart, Fareeha was smiling again: “I think, I needed that.” “God”, Angela whispered, still catching her breath: “I may have needed that too.” Fareeha smiled at her, only barely surpressing a yawn. Sitting back in her bed, Angela eyed her love: “You should get some rest.” “I can sleep here!” “I mean some real rest in a real bed.” “I can-“ “Please” Angela caught Fareehas hand, squeezing it, looking up at her through her dark lashes: “You must have sat here for ever and you look like you could use the rest.” “Alright Doctor” Fareeha just couldn’t resist Angela, looking at her like that. Leaning forward, she placed a light kiss on Angelas forehead: “But don’t expect me to not return right the second I wake up.” Angela chuckled lightly: “Maybe have breakfast and take a shower first.” “Maybe-“ Fareeha smiled softly, placing a last kiss on Angelas hair, before turning around, leaving Angela alone with her thoughts.

As soon as the door closed behind Fareeha, Angela fell back into her soft pillows, starring at the white ceiling. The missing of any monitors reassured her in her only problem being shock and her wrist, a quick glance under her bedsheet confirming that she was unhurt aside from some small cuts and bruises. With the worries for her health out of the way she had finally a clear enough mind to recap the mission and her… run-in. Her jaw clenched at the thought of Moira. She had halfway hoped to never see that woman again, even more, that she had died all those years ago. The monster, that had turned her work of healing into something dark and twisted. Tears of anger rose into her eyes as she remembered the first time Moira had shown her the nanobots. The technology she had developed meant to heal, twisted into something else. It followed the shock of Ana using her nanobots as a weapon closely, only that Moira had done even more. Her fist clenched, tugging on her bedsheet, trying not to scream. What Ana did was just reverse the effect. But Moira… she had turned them into something terrible. If Talon had Moira on their side, they had a very real and very dangerous chance to reach their goal of… yeah what. Mass producing the old nanobot version or producing a new one? Neither one a good option. She was sure, that their nanobots would be able to counteract most of the possible versions. But she also knew, what Moira was capable of.

The door flew wide open, interrupting her in her thoughts and a orange and blue flash barged into her room, followed by a little annoyed looking Satya, carrying a flower bouquet. Lena came to a slithering halt next to her bed, eyes wide opened, hair a mess as ever, a broad grin on her face: “We just saw Fareeha leave! That could only mean, that you are awake!” “How so?” Angela propped herself back up on her elbows, before leaning against the head of the bed again. “Are ya kidding me? She refused to leave this room!” Lena grinned, sitting down on the chair Fareeha had occupied earlier, crossing her legs: “It took Reinhardts strength and Anas- uhm- persuasion to get her out of here, changing her suit against a shower and normal cloths!” Angela would have lied, if she wasn’t slightly flustered and happy about that, the doctor inside her outraged about the exhaustion Fareeha had put herself through. But the doctor could shut up for all she cared right now. “Don’t look so pleased about that. You gave us all a near heart attack.” 

Angela looked up- Satyas cheeks were unusually flushed, the flowers in her hands pressed a little too tight to her chest. “Aw- Satya. You weren’t worried about me?”, she teased. “About a broken wrist? Never.” Her voice betraying her, only a small break revealing the lie. “I’m sorry.” Angela smiled at Satya, who finally let go of the flowers, placing them with the vase – of course Satya had brought a vase with her – on her nightstand, before pulling up a chair next to Lenas. “I’m fine. Or will be.” She raised her wrist, Lena giving her a smug grin: “Something to say, Oxton?” “No. Nothing doc.” Lenas grin broadened: “Just curious. How ya gonna deal with not being allowed to work for a few weeks? Gotta be a pain in the-“ “You still mad because of that broken arm?” Lena shrugged, her grin telling tales: “Maybe.” Sighing Angela rolled her eyes, directing her attention at Satya, a question burning at her fingertips, but she was afraid to ask. Afraid of the answer.

“Satya?” “Your wings are fine.” By now Angela was convinced that Satya had at least some kind of mind reading power. “They are roughed up but I have fixed them up. Though-“ Satyas eyes traced up from Angelas broken wrist towards her face, resting their gaze on her eyes: “Fareeha told me, what happened.” “Oh-“ Angela wasn’t exactly sure what that engulfed since her mind still was very stubborn about remembering everything. “I-“ Satya took a deep breath: “I’m sorry.” “For what?” surprised and a little irritated, Angela raised an eyebrow. “I should have considered some kind of fail safe. An automated disconnect… something.” “You can’t blame yourself for that.” Angela took a deep breath, her hand subconsciously wandering to her shoulders: “Nobody ever got the idea to pull my wings out.” “Still-“ Satya gritted her teeth: “I should have anticipated the possibility of your wings getting hit by a bullet and the possible effect it could have on your nervous system.” “As a doctor, I should have done the-“ “But you are not the engineer! I am!” Angela was stunned. She had never seen Satya so angry or emotional at that. 

“It’s not really your fault ya know?” Lena had started to rock back and forth on her chair. “Oh really? How is it not my fault?” Satya hissed. “Like the slipstream project? I did my job fine. The calculations where great, the build of the machine was perfect”, Lena shrugged: “And something still went wrong. A thing that never happened before and never happened since. Its just the natural order of things I guess.” Angela wasn’t entirely sure how, but it seemed to calm Satya down, even if she didn’t seem convinced. “Anyway” Lena jumped up: “Glad to see you’re okay. I- gotta go.” And with that, a wave and a grin she was out of the room, leaving Satya and her alone.

Satya brought Angela back to speed, telling her all she new about the mission, which wasn’t much more than Fareeha had already told her. But she had made some advances with the nanobots. Their current state wasn’t optimal, but it would be good enough for the worst case and with some more time, Satya was convinced, that they had found a cure against every possibility of Talon-bots. After a while, a doctor came in to check on her, Satya wishing her well and leaving her. The doctor quickly checking her vitals, asking her how she felt and assured her, that they would let her get back to her work after she had a nights rest. 

As promised, Fareeha showed up after a couple of hours. The bags under her eyes less dark and her hair more or less straight, the shirt and jeans swapped against clean versions of their predecessors. “How do you feel?” Angela greeted her, a book in her hands, reading up on some articles Satya had left her: “That was barely four hours of sleep.” She saw Fareeha supressing her eye rolling, replacing it with a pained smile: “You sound like my mother.” “And we wouldn’t want that.” Angela grinned, Fareeha rolling her eyes this time. “How do you feel?”  
“Annoyed-“ Angela nodded at the closed door: “They think to know their stuff better than I do.” “They are just doing their job.” Fareeha sad down on the edge of her bed, taking Angelas hands into hers. “Chaining me to this bed is not their job.” This time Fareeha chuckled, ruffling Angelas hair like she had done so many times before: “I’m really glad to see you up again.”   
“Me too-“ Angela yawned: “But I might not be up so long.”   
“Let me just-“ Fareeha stood up, only to sit down at the headboard of the bed again, pulling Angela into her arms, letting her rest against her chest: “Now you can fall asleep in my arms.” “You are so cheesy~” Angela yawned again, nuzzling her face against Fareehas arm, with her hand holding on to her, closing her eyes. “I don’t hear any objections.” “Mhm~” Angela mumbled, slowly drifting into sleep: “I love you”, she mumbled. “I love you too” Fareeha whispered, placing a sweet kiss on her head, watching as Angela slowly fell asleep.


	12. Babysteps

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This will be a shorter and heavier chapter than normal and it may get a little dark within the next chapters. Just so you know

Angela felt betrayed. Three days ago, the doctor appointed to her assured her she would be allowed to go back to work as soon as she got a nights rest. Now she got three nights of rest, the last one gladly in her own bed, and she was still not allowed to continue with her work. Unforeseen psychological consequences they said. True she had been terrorized by nightmares, one worse than the other but that was nothing! Everybody had bad dreams from time to time. We need to determine the psychological impact first they said. “They have no idea what they are talking about!” she snapped, stomping up and down in her room after she found her laboratory locked, a lenient smiling doctor telling her, she would get the code as soon as they were sure she was fine. “The wing incident they call it!” She whirled around, stomping back to the bed: “Loosing a limb can have unforeseen consequences on the human mind!”

Turning again, her labcoat fluttered angry behind her: “They are so incompetent! I didn’t lose a fucking limb! My armour got damaged! Happened to everyone in this fucking scheiß mist idiotischen Organisation! Ich werde persönlich dafür sorgen, dass sie alle ihre Lizenz entzogen bekommen!”

 

As she switched to German Fareeha got up from the bed where she had been sitting, catching her steaming girlfriend in her arms, keeping her from flinging her injured wrist against the wall: “They only mean well.” She said calmly.

Having Angelas nightmares experienced first-hand, she agreed with her doctors, but she would not for the life of her pour oil into the fire. She wouldn’t listen to her anyway. Angela shot her an angry glare, freeing herself of the embrace, returning to stomping up and down the room. She was aware that she was behaving like a child but right now she couldn’t care less: “And Satya! Sorry Angela-“ she imitated said engineer: “as long as I don’t have implemented a fail safe and your wrist is still healing I can’t allow you to practice with the wings.”

She stopped in her step, turning around to Fareeha: “I’ll use the nanobots to fasten the healing process!”

 “No no no no. No!”

 Fareeha quickly made her way to the door, blocking the only exit for the angry doctor: “You said yourself your body needs to heal on its own.”

“Get out of my way. You can’t stop me!”

Fareeha raised an eyebrow at that but instead of proving to her, that she was very well capable of keeping her from leaving this room, she made a suggestion: “How about you talk with Jack?”

For the first time in an hour something like reason appeared in Angelas blue eyes. Hoping to keep Angela in that state, Fareeha continued: “I’m sure if you promise him to not over exert yourself he would give you clearance.” Angela was out the door before she had finished her sentence, followed by a grinning and eyerolling Fareeha.

 

“You did WHAT?!”

“It was my idea in the first place to lock that lab. I knew you wouldn’t rest even if told you so.”

Jack leaned back in his chair, clearly unimpressed by the blond woman leaning over his desk, murder in her eyes and only seconds away from breathing fire: “It’s only a week anyway. After that you can return to your lab.” “I- don’t- have- the- time” Angelas voice was pressed, her healthy hand clenched into a fist. “We are working against the clock!” “Satya is picking up the slack. Besides, the most pressing matter being the nanobots made huge promising strides before the mission and Satya-“ “I don’t care, what Satya said! Give me the code for my lab Jack or so help me!”

Finally putting the documents, he’d been reading before the blond Overwatch agent barged into his room, followed by a slightly startled secretary and an amused Fareeha, aside, Jack leaned forward: “Listen Angela. You have the normal week of rest anyone who got hurt on a mission gets.”

As Angela opened her mouth to respond, he raised his hand: “You will not be working in your laboratory since we all know you tend to overwork yourself and your body needs to do some healing. Use your free time, read up on some things or have a nice dinner. But you won’t be getting the code to your lab anytime sooner than four days. That’s my last word.” Angela had to bite her lip to not scream at him. Instead, trying to keep the little bit of honour she had left, she turned around, marching head held high out of Jacks office. Fareeha followed her on the heel, desperately trying to suppress her grin.

 

Beaten and exhausted from hours spent walking up and down Angela returned to her room, Fareeha making sure she went there and not to her locked lab before going off to pick up her training schedule again. Slumping down on her bed, her hand wandered to her back. Her left shoulder seemed to be sensitive to the touch like it recovered from a wound. She hated to admit, that her doctor may be right when he said they needed to determine, if ripping of the wing left any remaining damage. She wasn’t ready to admit the Nightmare part to anyone though, not Fareeha, Satya nor Jack and even less to the doctor whose authority she had questioned right from the beginning. The pure aspect of them returning scared her.

She thought she had handled it. All of it – or at least most. She had managed to return to Overwatch, started her work again and even found someone she loved to be with… And the nightmares threw it in her face, laughing at her, smashing all the progress she had made. She wasn’t sure if she was able to handle it again. To fight it again… and again and again and again.

 

And on top of that she needed to figure out if and what kind of damage the wing part had left on her. If they were responsible for her nightmares additional to her… run-in. A shiver went down her spine as Moiras face flashed behind her closed eyelids.  
  
Suddenly the room was to small and the air seemed too thin too breath. Staggering to her feet, Angela stumbled to the window, her trembling fingers fumbling with the opening mechanism as her lungs started to ache. Her breaths became short, turning into harsh gasps as she struggled to breath. Her chest hurt, seemingly tightening, her heart desperately pounding against her rib cage. There wasn’t enough air. She needed to get air. She felt Moiras hand around her throat again. Closing around her neck. The edge of her vision went blurry as she fought the lack of air. Finally, the window opened under her fingers, a cold breeze brushing against her flushed cheeks, cooling her heated skin. The hand vanished, leaving her to breath freely. Shivering she sank down to the ground, her lungs filling with air, her missing wings aching. Taking deep, controlled breaths, she brushed her sweaty hair out of her face, the doctor inside her telling her, that she just went through a fully blown out panic attack. Leaning against the wall underneath the window, she took her time until her heartrate turned back to normal, the only things still telling of the attack being the open window and the low ache on her back where her wings were supposed to be.

 

Just then she realized how much she missed them. After such a short time she wanted them back - even after the pain she just recently went through because of them. She wanted to be back in the air, feeling a slight breeze shifting her artificial feathers, calming her mind. The doctor part told her, that her craving for them came close to an addiction. Too close to her own liking. Maybe she should talk about this with someone. Start taking on one problem after another. First wings, then panic attack, then… everything else. Again, she took a deep breath, filling her lungs with the cool air. “Babysteps, Angela” she whispered, getting on her feet again: “Babysteps.” Her fingers started playing with the rim of her shirt as she thought about who she could – and wanted to – talk to. 

 

Her com buzzed a few times before her call got answered: “Yes luv. What can I do you for?” “Lena-“ Angela hesitated, her determination wavering: “-could we… talk?” She heard a deep breath from the other side before Lena answered: “Sure luv- You alright? Everything fine with your wrist or do I need to get a doctor first?” “No!” that was more harsh then intended: “No.” she continued, trying to soften her voice: “It’s nothing medical. I just… need an opinion on something from someone who got experience with… this.” “Oooookay? You sure you alright?” “Yes” Angela couldn’t help but smile weakly, Lenas worry for her well-being warming her: “Could I meet you on the roof? I need some fresh air.” “Sure luv. Be there in a blink.” And with that the line went silent.

 

Lena already waited for her, sitting on the roof, her legs dangling over the edge, watching the waves underneath her crash against the cliffs, breaking into millions of glittering drops. Her head turned as she hear Angela approaching, wrapped in a warm jacket against the cold wind up here. Her brown eyes skimmed the blond doctor. She seemed unhurt, except for the obvious cast around her wrist and her eyes weren’t red from shed tears. “Hey luv.” She waved, pointing Angela to sit down next to her, watching the waves breaking, enjoying the salty, fresh breeze in their hair and against their faces. Lena waited for Angela to start the talking, not wanting to push her to say anything she wasn’t ready for, whatever it may be. Angela was thankful for Lenas silence. Just sitting here with her calmed her, clearing her head, removing Moira from her thoughts, pushing the dull pain of her wrist to the back of her mind and enabling her to truly breath freely for the first time since she had woken up in that bed in the med bay.

 

Collecting her thoughts, she spent a while just sitting there, watching the sun slowly sinking to the horizon, colouring the waves in a light orange, enjoying the warm rays on her face before she finally spoke: “Lena. I need to ask you something.” “Mhm.” Lena nodded, turning her head to look at the blond doctor.

Angela swallowed, rephrasing the words in her head, trying to find the perfect wording for that difficult question: “Do you feel- the need to jump through time?” The brown-haired girl froze for a second, before she had wrapped her mind around the question: “What do you mean by that exactly?” A deep sight escaped Angela, her heart tightening all so slightly, fearing the answer she might receive from her: “Do you feel like something is wrong when you don’t do it?” Lena leaned back, her eyes following a cloud wandering across the sky, taking a moment before answering: “There is nothing wrong, when I don’t do it, since I can do it only when I’m wearing the big extension. But you know that.”

Angela nodded, being the one who constructed Lenas anchor to this timeline and the chronal accelerator with it: “Yeah but, that’s not what I mean.” She searched for a better description of the feeling, translating German into English, shying away from the words as she spoke them, scared of them to being too close to the truth: “Do you- crave the time jumping? Like an addiction? I see you using it all the time when you are wearing the enhancement, even if it is not needed.” She turned her eyes to her hands in her lap, avoiding looking at Lena, fearing a judging or disapproving glint in her eyes, playing with the zipper of her jacket.

 

“It’s the wings, right?” Angela wasn’t even surprised, that Lena caught on that fast. She just nodded silently, bracing herself to whatever she might say, hearing Lenas clothes shuffle as she leaned onto the rail: “It’s not really a craving.” Lena said, Angela finally daring to look up, meeting her warm gaze: “It’s like a part of me is missing. I had to get used to it when you replaced the accelerator with my anchor… Truth be told” she grinned: “The anchor is great. I can have a normal live with it since it’s so small and I look like a female iron man. Plus, I don’t have to worry of loosing it when a strap gets torn.” She shrugged: “But I still miss it when I am not able to use its capabilities. Its like a part of me is missing.”

 She nodded towards Angelas back: “That’s what you were searching for, right luv?” “Partly.” Angelas eyes wandered back to the waves: “I mean: Your anchor and time skipping is part of you. Part of your cellular structure. The wings are artificial… they… aren’t the same.”

“Yes, they are”

Angela shook her head in surprise: “How so?”

“They are made like Satyas arm, right? Made to replace a limb you don’t have?” “Similar, yes. But how do you-“ “I listen to Satyas explanations and such.” Lena shrugged: “Emily is interested in this kind of stuff. So I pick up what I can. Anyway-” Lena stretched, her arms: “I guess, since they are made to replace a missing limb, the second you wore them, they became part of you. New limbs so to speak. The wings you lost.”

“…I never had wings” Angela murmured, Lenas eyes darkening at her tone, picking up on the pain in her voice: “It wasn’t your fault.” Angelas healthy hand clenched around the zipper of her jacket, the cool metal painfully burying in her hand: “I don’t want to talk about it.”  Lena gave a low hum, nodding to herself, her eyes wandering back to the waves crashing against the cliffs.

 

“Do you really think, they are part of me?” Angela finally asked. “Yes, I do.” Lena pointed at her hands: “You’ve been touching your shoulders now and then like you miss them.” “I have?” she hadn’t noticed, but now that she mentioned it: “What if I get addicted to it?” “You can’t get addicted to having all of your limbs. Or if so, we all are.” Angela wanted to say something but stopped herself as Lena continued: “I know, you don’t think they are part of you and even less your limbs, but the time jumping wasn’t always part of me either. I got used to it, made it part of me and learned to deal with it.” Lena traced the rim of the silver anchor attached to her chest: “For me it’s like a second heart. Enabling me to use all of my abilities. The wings do the same for you. You need to figure out, what they are for you. Probably not a second heart but-“ she bit her lip, her eyes narrowing as she thought of a good metaphor. “Maybe see them as a second pair of legs?” she chuckled lightly: “Glowing, feathered legs enabling you to fly.” Angela grinned at the thought, feeling a small burden being lifted of her heart. She wasn’t completely convinced, but at least Lena had lifted her spirits and made her mind open to the possibility of her not being a total train wreck. Dangling her legs off the roof, she turned back to taking in the salty air, filling her lungs with it.

 

They sat like that for a while, watching the sun sink until it touched the horizon, starting to hide behind the oceans border, colouring the waves first red, the purple. “Thank you.” Angela finally said, her voice a whisper: “For what, luv?” “Talking. Understanding.” “Anybody could have done that.” “Not understand the way you do” “If you say so”, Lena winked at her before getting up, stretching her arms above her head, humming satisfied at the sensation: “Gotta go. Mission tomorrow. Don’t want Jack to have my ass for being late.” “You certainly don’t.” Angela smiled, getting up as well.  
Lenas eyes widened in surprise as Angelas arms wrapped around her, pulling her into a tight hug. “Thank you again.” “Anytime.” Lena returned the hug before Angela let her go: “Ring me up if you want to talk again.” “You do the same” “I might as well- Could need some relationship advice.” Angela laughed, a heart-warming sound which made Lena sure, that the blond doctor would be okay: “You sure, I’m the best person to talk about relationships with?” “Maybe” Lena shrugged: “You are the person I trust most not to blab about it.” “Point taken. Now go. You don’t want to get into a quarrel with Jack.” “True. By Doc!” Angela watched Lena disappear into the building, then turned to finish watching the sunset until the first stars came out.

 

The door creaked slightly, much to her dismay, as she pushed it open, Fareehas room being only dimly lit by a small lamp on her nightstand. Fareeha lay in her bed, her arm hanging off the bed, a book on the ground, fast asleep. She seemed to have waited for Angela but fell asleep doing so, judging by her still wearing her beats. Carefully sneaking through the room, placing her jacket on a chair, Angela picked up the book, carefully smoothing the crumpled page it had landed on, putting a bookmark in it before closing it and putting it on the nightstand. A mumbling let her turn around, Fareehas eyes opening slightly, her pupils small against the light of the lamp: “Where have you been?” She mumbled, her hand searching for Angelas wrist, pulling her to sit on the bed: “I missed you.” Her voice was clouded by sleep, Angela being sure of her still being half asleep. “I missed you too.” She replied softly, her hand stroking Fareehas dark hair.

“Don’t go away again… I need… to protect you…” Fareeha mumbled, her eyes slowly falling shut again: “I need… you” she whispered, her other hand finding her way into Angelas shirt, grabbing it, holding on to it.

Placing a soft kiss on Fareehas forehead, Angela quickly got rid of her shoes and pants, climbing into bed next to her, wrapping her arms around the sleeping Egyptian woman, pulling her close to her. She felt Fareeha nuzzling into her warmth as she closed her eyes, letting out a deep yawn, sinking in a deep sleep.

 

Angela suddenly sat up, the faint picture of a grinning Moira vanishing into nothingness as she tried to orientate herself, figuring out where she was, her heart beating against her chest, trying to break free. Her breath was fast and forced, her skin covered in cold sweat, her whole body ready to flee. Panicked she looked around, not being able to remember where she was, how she got here or where here even was. “Hey. Hey!” she felt a strong hand on her shoulder, spiking her panic for a millisecond, her eyes focusing on a dark woman in front of her, her almost black eyes resting on her, calming her racing heart but still not able to orientate herself. “It’s alright. You’re safe. No one will hurt you.” Her voice was warm and calm. Familiar. She raised her hands in front of her, showing them as they were: Empty: “I’m not going to hurt you.” Finally, Angela was able to take a deep breath, Fareeha carefully watching her, waiting for her to orientate herself. “Fareeha-“ Angela gasped, her heart still pounding, breath still too fast and flat, only slowly returning to its normal pace: “I-“. Tears filled her eyes as her nightmare returned with full force. “I know.”

 

Fareeha wrapped her arms around the shivering woman, pulling her closer, calmingly stroking her hair. It worried her deeply, that Angelas nightmares only seemed to worsen with each passing night. Even more so that the periods of disorientation after waking up seemed to get longer each time. She felt Angela sob against her chest, trembling in her arms, holding on to her shirt like it was a lifeline. “Angela” Fareeha started, voice soft and low, waiting for her love to give her a sign that she was listening. As she felt the small nod, she continued: “Don’t you think, you should go talk to someone about these?” She felt Angela holding onto her shirt tighter, shaking her head violently. Fareeha bit her lip. As much as she wanted to help she was neither willing nor able to force Angela to do anything or talk against her will. Supressing a worried sight, she hugged her tight, putting all the warmth and love she felt for that woman into the embrace.

 

“I ha.. ..ck.” Angela mumbled against Fareehas shirt. “What?” Angela took a deep breath, slowly looking up, her eyes finding Fareehas gaze: “I had a panic attack.” Fareehas eyes widened, their warm brown turning a deep worried black: “When? Where you hurt?” “Not hurt…” Angela wiped away her tears, gripping onto Fareehas shirt again: “Yesterday, after you left. I-“ she struggled with the words: “It scares me.”

“The attack?”

“No… yes. But more… Everything~” Angela made an engulfing gesture: “I’m worried I might not be ready for the mission and I wasn’t. I am afraid someone… you will get hurt again and I can’t save you. I almost wasn’t able to the last time-” Her voice broke, eyes filling with tears again: “I can’t even take care of myself. How can I expect to take care of others?”  

“I’m here to help you take care of yourself”, Fareeha smiled softly, caressing Angelas cheek, wiping away a shimmering tear: “And when you feel up to the challenge, you can return at full force.”

Angela looked at her, her blue eyes wide, glittering with unshed tears, a spark of hope glinting in their depths.

Fareeha tried again: “Maybe take it slow? At least for a while.” Angelas eyes narrowed but she let her continue: “Satya can handle the nanobots. For now!” she hastily added as Angelas lips grew thin. “Please.” She took Angelas hands in hers, her thumb brushing across the smooth surface of Angelas cast: “Just for a short while. Until your hand is fully healed?”

Angela cocked her head, considering. She was scared, that if she stopped working for a longer period of time, there would be nothing distracting her from all of this. On the other hand…

 

“Okay” “Really?” Fareeha was surprised, her heart fluttering happily in her chest. “Yes. My wrist will be completely healed in about six or seven weeks. I-“ Angela took a deep breath: “I can’t promise that I will talk about-“ “I don’t ask you to” Fareeha cut in, her fingers entangling in Angelas hair, her love leaning in to the touch, a weak smile slowly appearing on her lips.  
“You take such good care of me” Angela whispered, her hand cupping Fareehas: “How do I deserve you~” Fareehas chuckle filled her with warmth: “Probably bad karma in a previous life?”

This elicited the first real laugh from her since she had woken up: “Weird way of paying me back.”

“What do you mean?” Fareeha grinned, pulling Angela in, placing a soft kiss on her hair: “You have someone overprotective of you-“ another kiss on her forehead: “overly eager to put herself in danger” a kiss on her cheek: “Forcing you to stop your work and not willing to take it slow herself.”

“Hmmm~” Angela hummed, stretching her neck a little to reach Fareehas lips: “She’s not that bad.”

 

Their lips met, softly pushing against each other. Angela opened her mouth, letting Fareeha sneak her tongue in, playing with hers, softly and careful. Fareehas hands found their way into Angelas hair, playing with her golden streaks, feeling Angela wrapping her arms around her neck, pulling her deeper in. She lost herself in Angelas light scent, salty and for the first time no disinfectant. She found herself missing the scent which so distinctly was part of the Angel in her arms.

As they broke apart, Angela was filled with the certainty of being able to fight this again. Because this time, she wasn’t alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... I'm back. Sorry for the long wait. I hope you still enjoyed this chapter even though its pretty dark. I've been working towards this for some time now (maybe you noticed in previous chapters) and I had a difficult time expressing exactly what I wanted to. I really hope you enjoyed this chapter. More comming soon


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